Scott's Miracle-Gro Co. shares have soared 30 percent with five states poised to legalize recreational marijuana this November. The company's ever-growing list of options now includes everything from hydroponic supplies to an assortment of organic options suitable for growing marijuana. The explosive growth has led the company to “gobble up” smaller hydroponic companies.
The company's hydroponic business arm now generates upwards of $250 million per year. Scotts’ Black Magic brand is now available in 165 Home Depot locations.
On Monday, Scotts Miracle-Gro shares hit a record high of $84.19 per share. The year-to-date rise represents a 4.5 percent gain in the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index. Lawn care products are a hot and viable market, thanks to marijuana consumers.
“Scotts is one of the only public companies you can play to actually participate in the growth of the industry,” financial adviser Leslie Bocskor told the San Luis Obispo Tribune. “As people look and say, ‘Hey I want to play the growth of cannabis industry in a public company,’ there aren’t a lot of choices, so Scotts probably will see substantial interest, especially after Nov. 8.” Bocksor is a managing partner at Electrum Partners in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The company is expanding faster than they anyone expected. Hot on the heels after acquiring General Hydroponics last year, Scotts Miracle-Gro recently acquired the nutrient and supplements maker Botanicare on October 1.
The secret is out of the bag and Miracle-Gro is owning up to its marijuana customer base. “In states where the laws have evolved to allow the legal cultivation of cannabis, in almost every one of those states, that’s happening using hydroponic growing methods,” Miracle-Gro Chief Financial Officer Thomas Randy Coleman said at a September 13 conference. “We have the benefit of growing from that.”
