Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Stock Price Down 5.5% - Time to Sell?

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) traded down 5.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $68.14 and last traded at $65.20. 323,753 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 960,110 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.67.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.6%

The firm has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 137.08 and a beta of 2.01. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $60.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.72.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.95 by $0.03. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.04% and a negative return on equity of 56.15%. The firm 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 earned $3.69 EPS. The company's revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 528.00%.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% during the 1st 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 288.8% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,421,220 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $78,011,000 after buying an additional 1,055,672 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $53,453,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $41,689,000 after acquiring an additional 264,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at $39,986,000. 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.