The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Class Action Lawsuit - SMG
Case Summary
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The Scotts Miracle-Gro class action lawsuit seeks to represent purchasers of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE: SMG) common stock between November 3, 2021 and August 1, 2023, inclusive (the “Class Period”). Captioned City of Hialeah Employees’ Retirement System v. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, No. 24-cv-03132 (S.D. Ohio), the Scotts Miracle-Gro class action lawsuit charges Scotts Miracle-Gro and certain of Scotts Miracle Gro’s top current and former executives with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
If you suffered substantial losses and wish to serve as lead plaintiff of the Scotts Miracle-Gro class action lawsuit, please provide your information in the form on this page. You can also contact attorney J.C. Sanchez or Jennifer N. Caringal of Robbins Geller by calling 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at info@rgrdlaw.com. Lead plaintiff motions for the Scotts Miracle-Gro class action lawsuit must be filed with the court no later than August 5, 2024.
CASE ALLEGATIONS: Scotts Miracle-Gro produces various lawn, garden, and agricultural products for both consumer and professional purposes.
The Scotts Miracle-Gro class action lawsuit alleges that defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Scotts Miracle-Gro had an oversupply of inventory that far exceeded consumer demand; and (ii) Scotts Miracle-Gro executives engaged in a scheme to saturate Scotts Miracle-Gro’s sales channel with more product than those retailers could sell through to end users, a practice that required Scotts Miracle-Gro sales personnel to pressure retailers to purchase more inventory than they wanted or needed.
The Scotts Miracle-Gro class action lawsuit further alleges that on June 8, 2022, Scotts Miracle-Gro admitted that replenishment orders from its U.S. retailers were more than $300 million below target in the month of May alone, 2022 full-year earnings would be roughly half of Scotts Miracle-Gro’s prior guidance, and Scotts Miracle-Gro would take on additional debt to cover restructuring charges as it attempted to cut costs. On this news, the price of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock fell nearly 9%, according to the complaint.
Then, on August 2, 2023, the Scotts Miracle-Gro class action lawsuit further alleges that Scotts Miracle-Gro disclosed that: (i) it had modified its debt covenants to permit a 7.00 times debt-to-EBITDA ratio, from the original covenant that only permitted a 6.25 times debt-to-EBITDA ratio; (ii) quarterly sales for Scotts Miracle-Gro’s third quarter had declined by 6% and gross margins fell by 420 basis points; and (iii) Scotts Miracle-Gro slashed fiscal year EBITDA guidance by 25% and announced it had to take a $20 million write down for “pandemic driven excess inventories.” On this news, the price of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock fell more than 19%, according to the complaint.
THE LEAD PLAINTIFF PROCESS: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased Scotts Miracle-Gro common stock during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff in the Scotts Miracle-Gro class action lawsuit. A lead plaintiff is generally the movant with the greatest financial interest in the relief sought by the putative class who is also typical and adequate of the putative class. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the Scotts Miracle-Gro class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the Scotts Miracle-Gro class action lawsuit. An investor’s ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff of the Scotts Miracle-Gro class action lawsuit.
ABOUT ROBBINS GELLER: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is one of the world’s leading law firms representing investors in securities fraud cases. Our Firm has been #1 in the ISS Securities Class Action Services rankings for six out of the last ten years for securing the most monetary relief for investors. We recovered $6.6 billion for investors in securities-related class action cases – over $2.2 billion more than any other law firm in the last four years. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller is one of the largest plaintiffs’ firms in the world and the Firm’s attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history, including the largest securities class action recovery ever – $7.2 billion – in In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig.