William Blair Has Bearish Forecast for SMG Q4 Earnings

Key Points

• William Blair analysts have decreased their Q4 2025 earnings estimates for Scotts Miracle-Gro, projecting a loss of ($2.15) per share, which is slightly lower than the previous estimate of ($2.13).
• Scotts Miracle-Gro recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, with a high dividend payout ratio of 347.37%.
• Despite recent earnings adjustments, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus target price of $71.17 with a rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) - William Blair lowered their Q4 2025 EPS estimates for Scotts Miracle-Gro in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, September 3rd. William Blair analyst J. Andersen now anticipates that the basic materials company will post earnings per share of ($2.15) for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of ($2.13). The consensus estimate for Scotts Miracle-Gro's current full-year earnings is $3.42 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Scotts Miracle-Gro's FY2026 earnings at $4.00 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on SMG. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group set a $68.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $60.12. The company had a trading volume of 207,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,037,168. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $64.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.13 and a beta of 1.98. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $45.61 and a one year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 118,729 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,522,093 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $100,397,000 after acquiring an additional 16,298 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 288.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 12,034.5% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,008,623 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $66,529,000 after buying an additional 1,000,311 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 163.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 899,690 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $59,344,000 after buying an additional 557,647 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer purchased 1,790 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $61.32 per share, with a total value of $109,762.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president owned 10,130 shares in the company, valued at $621,171.60. The trade was a 21.46% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.28, for a total transaction of $4,359,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,274,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $826,721,784.72. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is 347.37%.

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.