Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.36, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.37% and a negative net margin of 11.52%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.6 %

SMG traded up $0.43 on Thursday, hitting $68.67. 858,910 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 760,495. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.66 and a beta of 1.70. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $43.67 and a one year high of $77.95.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -37.50%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 13,881,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,671,891.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $6,604,492. 26.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on SMG. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.57.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

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.