Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The SMG

Competitive advantage analysis · basic-materials

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
58/100
Moderate

Ranked against 17 peers in Agricultural Inputs

About Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The

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. 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 … Full SMG analysis →

Key strengths

  • ROIC Sustainably Above Peers ROIC at 87.5th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.
  • Revenue Growth Consistent Revenue growth volatility is low (stability score 0.71), suggesting sticky customer base.

Key risks

  • Elevated Debt Risk Debt serviceability is weak (score 0.30), raising refinancing risk.
  • Liquidity Concerns Liquidity is concerning (score 0.29), raising questions about short-term obligations.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Moderate
53
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Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

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Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

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Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where SMG ranks in Agricultural Inputs

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The ranks #5 of 16 scored companies in Agricultural Inputs by moat score — the top 31%. The widest moat in the group is Corteva, Inc. (CTVA) at 81/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
1 Corteva, Inc. CTVA 81/100 Strong
2 CF Industries Holdings, Inc. CF 74/100 Moderate
3 CVR Partners, LP UAN 68/100 Moderate
4 Nutrien Ltd. NTR 66/100 Moderate
5 Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The SMG 58/100 Moderate
6 ICL Group Ltd. ICL 51/100 Moderate
7 FMC Corporation FMC 49/100 Developing
8 Mosaic Company (The) MOS 46/100 Developing
9 Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp. BIOX 45/100 Developing

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How SMG scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 53 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 70 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 65 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 55 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 36 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 69 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding SMG's moat

What is Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The's moat score?

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The (SMG) scores 58 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #5 of 16 scored companies in Agricultural Inputs, the top 31%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 17 companies in Agricultural Inputs. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (70/100) and its weakest is Resilience (36/100).

How does Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The compare with other Agricultural Inputs companies?

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The ranks #5 of 16 scored companies in Agricultural Inputs by moat score. The widest moat in Agricultural Inputs is Corteva, Inc. (CTVA) at 81/100. The companies ranked closest are Nutrien Ltd. (NTR) at 66 just above it and ICL Group Ltd. (ICL) at 51 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 17 companies in Agricultural Inputs. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (The?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and SMG scores: Pricing Power (53), Cost Advantage (70), Customer Stickiness (65), Capital Efficiency (55), Resilience (36), Scale & Market Position (69). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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