Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.28 EPS

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG – Get Rating) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.28, Briefing.com reports. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 6.36% and a positive return on equity of 36.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. Scotts Miracle-Gro updated its FY 2022 guidance to $4.00-$4.20 EPS.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $80.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 573,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,481. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.25. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $72.58 and a one year high of $180.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 26th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 25th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently -54.66%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, EVP James D. King sold 17,500 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.42, for a total value of $1,722,350.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $960,579.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.74, for a total value of $5,864,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 261,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,589,895.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James D. King sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.42, for a total transaction of $1,722,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $960,579.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 27.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 33.7% during the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 91,372 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,235,000 after buying an additional 23,051 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8.6% during the first quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 9,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 49.2% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 15,288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,880,000 after buying an additional 5,043 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 10,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,319,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 106,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,061,000 after acquiring an additional 7,124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 21st. Truist Financial cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $92.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $116.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.88.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

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The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other. It provides lawn care products comprising lawn fertilizers, grass seed products, spreaders, other durable products, and outdoor cleaners, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; gardening and landscape products include water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes and garden soils, mulch and decorative groundcover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and lives goods and seeding solutions.