Analysts Set The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Target Price at $71.67

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.67.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $83.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG opened at $70.61 on Monday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a fifty-two week low of $43.67 and a fifty-two week high of $77.95. The company’s 50-day moving average is $65.85 and its 200 day moving average is $65.39.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.36. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 10.14% and a negative return on equity of 20.97%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 31,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.67, for a total value of $2,159,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,746,012 shares in the company, valued at $957,684,656.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 26.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,640,383 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,815,000 after purchasing an additional 35,002 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.2% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,113,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $232,210,000 after buying an additional 479,315 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 24.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,726,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,359,000 after buying an additional 542,406 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 585,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,070,000 after buying an additional 15,569 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 559,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,376,000 after buying an additional 3,948 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.