The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) to Issue $0.66 Quarterly Dividend

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.66 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro has raised its dividend by an average of 1.0% annually over the last three years. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a payout ratio of 63.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Scotts Miracle-Gro to earn $4.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.5%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 5.4 %

NYSE:SMG opened at $77.74 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $71.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.57. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $53.43 and a one year high of $93.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total transaction of $38,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,553,274 shares in the company, valued at $1,045,499,556.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $856,127.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 51,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,891,428.47. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,227 shares of company stock valued at $4,410,268 over the last quarter. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SMG. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

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.