Marijuana Gold Rush

he explosive growth of the marijuana market will be a huge catalyst for the SMG stock price. According to New Frontier Data’s 2017 Cannabis Industry Annual Report, medical marijuana sales are expected to soar from $4.7 billion last year to $13.3 billion by 2020. The cannabis industry is also expected to create more than 250,000 jobs in the next three years – more than utilities, manufacturing, or even government jobs.

A recent Yahoo Finance survey of analysts shows shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro could rise to $107 in the next 12 months. That would be a return of 7.2% from the today’s price of $99.81.

While that may not be a huge profit, SMG stock more than makes up for it with a yield of 2.12% and quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share. The firm’s dividend has increased every year since 2013, rising 20.5% from $0.44 to $0.53.

The SMG dividend is also bigger than those offered by close peers Central Garden & Pet Co. (Nasdaq: CENT) and Andersons Inc. (Nasdaq: ANDE). Central Garden doesn’t offer a dividend, while Andersons only pays $0.16 per share for a 1.72% yield.