Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (SMG) will raise its quarterly dividend by 6.9 percent to 62 cents per share in 2020. Also a $5.00 per share special dividend will be paid to shareholders by SMG. This comes after a 5.5 percent hike to $0.58 per share in 2019, marking the 10th consecutive year of dividend increases by the manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products.

Both dividends are payable September 10, 2020 to shareholders of record on August 27, 2020. A new regular annual dividend rate of $2.48 per share yields 1.5% at a stock price of $169. The $5.00 per share special dividend yields 2.95% based on a stock price of $169.

In a press release dated July 29, 2020 Scotts Miracle-Gro announces third quarter financial results and also comments on the special dividend: “Shareholders also will benefit from a special dividend payment of $5 per share, which is consistent with our long-standing commitment to return cash to shareholders as well as the Board’s decision to increase our regular quarterly dividend.”

Scotts Miracle-Gro has a great year despite COVID-19 with a stock price gain of 62.2 percent year-to-date and the shares trading at all time highs. The company now pays $138 million in dividends to shareholders annually based on the regular annual dividend rate. Scotts Miracle-Gro also paid special dividends to shareholders in 2014 and 2007.

Other US companies announcing a special dividend recently can be found on the special dividends news page.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (SMG) is a manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products in North America. Its key consumer lawn and garden brands include Scotts and Turf Builder lawn and grass seed products; Miracle-Gro, Nature’s Care, Scotts, LiquaFeed and Osmocote1 gardening and landscape products; and Ortho, Roundup 2, Home Defense and Tomcat branded insect control,weed control and rodent control products. SMG is the exclusive agent of the Monsanto Company, a subsidiary of Bayer AG since June 2018, for the marketing and distribution of certain of Monsanto’s consumer Roundup branded products within the United States and certain other specified countries. Through its Hawthorne segment, SMG is a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of nutrients, growing media, advanced indoor garden, lighting and ventilation systems and accessories for hydroponic gardening with brands including General Hydroponics, Gavita, Agrolux and AeroGarden. The company's three reportable segments are: U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne and Other. Scotts Miracle-Gro traces its heritage to a company founded by O.M. Scott in Marysville, Ohio in 1868.