Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.34 EPS

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34, Zacks reports. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.98% and a negative return on equity of 44.97%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG stock opened at $78.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -111.95 and a beta of 1.73. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1-year low of $53.43 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.66.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -382.61%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,390,090.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,616,399.68. This trade represents a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $856,127.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 51,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,891,428.47. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 58,227 shares of company stock worth $4,410,268. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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 report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

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.