Barclays PLC Grows Stock Holdings in Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT)

Barclays PLC grew its position in Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,763 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 819 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.05% of Central Garden & Pet worth $1,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CENT. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 87,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,379,000 after purchasing an additional 11,532 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 1,488 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Central Garden & Pet by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 59,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,313,000 after buying an additional 24,375 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new stake in Central Garden & Pet in the fourth quarter valued at about $396,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,474,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,203,000 after acquiring an additional 125,418 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.13% of the company’s stock.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Performance

CENT opened at $34.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Central Garden & Pet has a 12-month low of $32.16 and a 12-month high of $47.48.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.24. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 3.77% and a return on equity of 10.08%. On average, analysts anticipate that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John D. Walker III sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.86, for a total value of $328,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 67,111 shares in the company, valued at $2,205,267.46. The trade was a 12.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 8.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial lowered shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. Argus downgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.33.

About Central Garden & Pet

Central Garden & Pet Co engages in the production and distribution of branded and private label products for the lawn, garden, and pet supplies markets. It operates through the Pet and Garden segments. The Pet segment focuses on dog and cat supplies such as dog treats and chews, toys, pet beds and containment, grooming products, waste management and training pads, supplies for aquatics, small animals, reptiles and pet birds including toys, cages and habitats, bedding, food and supplements, products for equine and livestock, animal and household health and insect control products, live fish, and small animals, as well as outdoor cushions.