Quality Investor

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company

Rank #184Value

SMG · NYSE · Basic Materials

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (SMG) — Rank #184 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.33) · ROE -69.6% · Piotroski F-Score 7 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-28 · CIK 0000825542 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally.

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The company provides lawn care products, comprising lawn fertilizers, clover and 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. It also offers hydroponic products that help users to grow plants, flowers, and vegetables using little or no soil; lighting systems and components; insect, rodent, and weed control products for home areas; and non-selective weed killer products. The company sells its products under the Scotts, Turf Builder, Grower's Edge, EZ Seed, PatchMaster, Thick'R Lawn, GrubEx, EdgeGuard, Whirl, Wizz, Miracle-Gro, LiquaFeed, Shake ‘N Feed, Hyponex, Earthgro, Miracle-Gro Organic, CAN-FAN, CAN-FILTERS, EcoPlus, Bug B Gon, Nature Scapes, Ortho, Miracle-Gro Performance Organics, Miracle-Gro Organic Choice, Whitney Farms, Ortho Max, Home Defense, Mother Earth, Botanicare, General Hydroponics, CYCO, Gavita, Agrolux, HydroLogic Purification System, Gro Pro, AeroGarden, Titan, Tomcat, Ortho Weed B Gon, Roundup, Groundclear, and Alchemist brands. It serves home centers, mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, large hardware chains, independent hardware stores, nurseries, garden centers, e-commerce platforms, and food and drug stores, as well as indoor gardening and hydroponic distributors, retailers, and growers. The company was formerly known as The Scotts Company.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Marysville, Ohio.

Industry
Agricultural Inputs
Sector
Basic Materials
State
OH
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
September 30

Company Snapshot

P/E and dividend yield are the primary valuation lenses for mature businesses.

Market Cap

—

P/E (annual)

—

P/S (annual)

—

P/B

—

P/OCF (annual)

—

Shareholder Yield

—

Employees

5,200

Industry

Agricultural Inputs

Exchange

NYSE

Signal Flags

2 green1 yellow1 red
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 2-quarter streak
Dilution above 2%Annual share count increase exceeds 2%. May be acceptable for high-growth companies funding talent via stock compensation
Revenue declining YoYRevenue contracted year over year

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.33
Return on equity
-69.6%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
—
Current ratio
1.21×
Net cash
-$2.09B

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
2.0%

Growth

0/2 pass
Revenue growth
-3.9%
Piotroski F-Score
7 / 9
Share dilution
3.3%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 1/5 Terry Smith thresholds

Dividend yield and payout ratio are the primary reads at this stage (trailing P/E — see valuation above).

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.33

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

71st pctl of 39 SIC 28 peers

Return on equity

-69.6%

Gross margin

30.6%

26th pctl of 39 SIC 28 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

-3.9%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2022202320242025
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

-4.5%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

-3.7%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

—

FCF CAGR (3Y)

—

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

—

Current ratio

1.21×

5th pctl of 39 SIC 28 peers

Quick ratio

0.67×

Net cash

-$2.09B

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Recession resistance

Revenue through recessions

Worst single-year YoY revenue decline, 18 years of history

Strong
2008-2009 (GFC)
5.6%Grew through it
2020 (COVID)
30.9%Grew through it
Worst year on record(any fiscal year, not recession-limited)
-20.3%Significant decline

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$273.90M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

0.89

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

2.0%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

1.0 / 5

Weak
Payout ratio
106.3%0/5 Weak
FCF coverage
1.78×3/5 Good
Dividend growth streak
2 yr1/5 Weak
Balance-sheet health
D/E N/A · IC 2.78×0/5 Weak

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

7 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20202025
Hypergrowth
Capital Return
Decline
Startup
Value