The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Short Interest Update

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,980,000 shares, a growth of 21.0% from the February 28th total of 3,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 902,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Approximately 9.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SMG. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.33.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock traded up $2.66 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $57.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,096,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 846,980. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1 year low of $53.37 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -119.64 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.29.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.45) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -550.00%.

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.