Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $58.62, but opened at $61.10. Scotts Miracle-Gro shares last traded at $64.30, with a volume of 595,421 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SMG. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.50.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $55.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.21. The company has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -138.75 and a beta of 1.99.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.95 by $0.03. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.69 EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is currently 528.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,645,267 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $254,979,000 after buying an additional 118,729 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 288.8% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,421,220 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $78,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055,672 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $53,453,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,689,000 after purchasing an additional 264,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $39,986,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.