Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Given New $83.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the basic materials company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price indicates a potential upside of 20.92% from the company's current price.

SMG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Raymond James restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Truist Financial cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.57.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

NYSE:SMG traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $68.64. The stock had a trading volume of 861,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 760,526. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.90. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a twelve month low of $43.67 and a twelve month high of $77.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.66 and a beta of 1.70.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 11.52% and a negative return on equity of 44.37%. The business's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $79,945.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at $1,314,347.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $5,648,545.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,777,012 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $901,154,354.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $6,604,492 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,640,383 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $239,815,000 after purchasing an additional 35,002 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.2% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,711,024 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $140,106,000 after purchasing an additional 108,593 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,183,932 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $139,226,000 after purchasing an additional 25,863 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 13.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,011,906 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $52,295,000 after purchasing an additional 119,115 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 903,974 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $46,717,000 after buying an additional 143,326 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.

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.