Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. But when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.

Scotts Miracle-Gro in Focus

Based in Marysville, Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG - Free Report) is in the Basic Materials sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -0.48%. The lawn and garden products company is paying out a dividend of $0.58 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.2% compared to the Fertilizers industry's yield of 0.92% and the S&P 500's yield of 2.3%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $2.32 is up 4% from last year. Scotts Miracle-Gro has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 5.44%. Future dividend growth will depend on earnings growth as well as payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Scotts's current payout ratio is 49%. This means it paid out 49% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for SMG for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 is $5.16 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 15.44%.

Bottom Line

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.

Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, SMG presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (SMG) - free report >>

Published in