Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Price Target Cut to $60.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo cut Scotts Miracle-Gro’s price target from $77 to $60 while maintaining an “overweight” rating, implying 22.59% potential upside from the reported $48.94 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans positive: three analysts rate the stock Buy and three rate it Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $71.80.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro reported quarterly EPS of $2.82, beating estimates of $2.48, while revenue reached $1.17 billion and rose 1.1% year over year; insiders sold about $2.15 million in shares over the past three months.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $60.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the basic materials company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 22.59% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.80.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG stock traded down $0.08 on Monday, hitting $48.94. 107,302 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 957,088. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $75.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.82. The stock has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.68 and a beta of 1.87.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 81.90% and a net margin of 2.19%.The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 30,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.45, for a total transaction of $2,023,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,137,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,133,885.45. This trade represents a 0.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark D. Kingdon sold 831 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total value of $51,231.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $667,484.55. This trade represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 32,002 shares of company stock worth $2,154,734 over the last three months. Company insiders own 24.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 20.8% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 52,304 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,562,000 after acquiring an additional 9,004 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $427,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $194,000. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 500.3% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 114,728 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,814,000 after purchasing an additional 95,616 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2nd quarter valued at $204,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a consumer-focused lawn and garden products company headquartered in Marysville, Ohio. Founded in 1868, the company develops, manufactures and markets products that help consumers grow and maintain lawns, gardens and outdoor spaces.

Its portfolio includes lawn fertilizers, grass seed, plant foods, gardening products, pest-control solutions and related outdoor-care items. Key consumer brands have included Scotts, Miracle-Gro, Ortho and Tomcat, with products sold through home-improvement retailers, mass merchants, nurseries, garden centers and other distribution channels.

Scotts Miracle-Gro primarily serves customers in the United States and Canada.

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