Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Monday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $69.29.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE:SMG opened at $73.61 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of -10.46 and a beta of 1.69. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 52-week low of $43.67 and a 52-week high of $78.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.50, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.62) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $410.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.83 million. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.37% and a negative net margin of 11.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.02) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -37.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total value of $876,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,881,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $810,671,891.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 102,750 shares of company stock worth $6,604,492 over the last three months. Insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SMG. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 21,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,663,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,314 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 18,313 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,595 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other. The company provides lawn care products, comprising lawn fertilizers, grass seed products, spreaders, and other durable products, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; and gardening and landscape products, which include water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes, garden soils, mulches and ground cover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and live goods and seeding solutions.