FY2017 Earnings Estimate for Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The) (NYSE:SMG) Issued By SunTrust Banks

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The) (NYSE:SMG) – Analysts at SunTrust Banks raised their FY2017 earnings estimates for shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday. SunTrust Banks analyst W. Chappell now forecasts that the basic materials company will post earnings of $4.14 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $4.12. SunTrust Banks also issued estimates for Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The)’s Q4 2017 earnings at ($0.32) EPS, Q1 2018 earnings at ($1.12) EPS and Q4 2018 earnings at ($0.29) EPS.

SMG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The) from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The) from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $101.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (SMG) opened at 96.94 on Friday. Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $74.54 and a 12 month high of $99.91. The stock has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.16 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $91.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.50.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The) (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.12. Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The) had a return on equity of 36.28% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 23rd. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is an increase from Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The)’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.49%.

In other news, CFO Thomas Randal Coleman sold 4,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.84, for a total transaction of $383,167.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 19,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,725,107.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Denise Stump sold 22,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.05, for a total transaction of $2,149,555.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,848,152.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,038 shares of company stock valued at $4,587,090 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 28.16% of the company’s stock.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SMG. World Asset Management Inc increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The) by 0.5% in the second quarter. World Asset Management Inc now owns 3,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Palo Capital Inc. increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The) by 0.3% in the first quarter. Palo Capital Inc. now owns 8,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $814,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Glen Harbor Capital Management LLC increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The) by 2.4% in the first quarter. Glen Harbor Capital Management LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. IFC Holdings Incorporated FL increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The) by 1.9% in the first quarter. IFC Holdings Incorporated FL now owns 2,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyers Asset Management LLC increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The) by 2.4% in the first quarter. Tyers Asset Management LLC now owns 1,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.02% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The) Company Profile

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (Scotts Miracle-Gro) is a manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products. The Company’s segments include Global Consumer. In North America, its brands include Scotts and Turf Builder lawn and grass seed products; Miracle-Gro, Nature’s Care, Scotts, LiquaFeed and Osmocote gardening and landscape products; and Ortho, Roundup, Home Defense and Tomcat branded insect control, weed control and rodent control products.