The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.66 (NYSE:SMG)

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.66 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd.

Scotts Miracle-Gro has raised its dividend by an average of 3.2% per year over the last three years. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a payout ratio of 66.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Scotts Miracle-Gro to earn $3.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 69.5%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG traded up $0.69 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.58. The company had a trading volume of 449,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 739,124. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12-month low of $43.67 and a 12-month high of $77.95. The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.64 and a beta of 1.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.98.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.62) by $0.17. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.37% and a negative net margin of 11.52%. The firm had revenue of $410.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.83 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.02) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total value of $876,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,881,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $810,671,891.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total value of $876,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,881,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $810,671,891.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $6,604,492 in the last 90 days. 26.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SMG shares. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.00.

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.