Zacks Research Has Negative Outlook for CENTA Q4 Earnings

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research reduced their Q4 2026 earnings per share estimates for Central Garden & Pet in a research note issued on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the company will post earnings of ($0.04) per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.05. The consensus estimate for Central Garden & Pet’s current full-year earnings is $2.38 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Central Garden & Pet’s Q4 2027 earnings at ($0.02) EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.88 EPS.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $617.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 5.04%.Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on CENTA. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Central Garden & Pet to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.75.

Central Garden & Pet Price Performance

CENTA stock opened at $35.23 on Monday. Central Garden & Pet has a one year low of $25.97 and a one year high of $37.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.38, for a total value of $108,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $428,766.10. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 20.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 56.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 48,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 17,556 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 2.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 179.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 180,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,921,000 after buying an additional 116,101 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 263,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,625,000 after buying an additional 12,749 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

Central Garden & Pet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Central Garden & Pet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised several near‑term and multi‑year EPS estimates for CENTA (including Q1/Q2/Q3 2026, Q1–Q3 2027 and FY2026/FY2028), lifting FY2026 to ~2.84 and FY2028 to ~2.95 — these upward revisions improve the company’s earnings trajectory versus prior forecasts and are a likely catalyst for the stock’s gains.
• Positive Sentiment: Central Garden & Pet will participate in investor conferences (J.P. Morgan High Yield & Leveraged Finance Conference on March 3); CFO Brad Smith will appear on a fireside chat and management will take one‑on‑one meetings — increased analyst/investor access can boost sentiment and reduce information uncertainty. Central Garden & Pet to Participate in Investor Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reporting for February shows anomalous/zero values (a flagged large increase but with 0 shares reported and NaN changes), which appears to be a data glitch — no clear directional pressure from short activity based on the published figures.

About Central Garden & Pet

Central Garden & Pet Co is a leading producer, marketer and distributor of branded consumable gardening products and pet supplies in North America. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, the company serves both retail and wholesale customers through a network of distribution centers across the United States and Canada. Operating under the ticker symbol CENTA on the NASDAQ exchange, Central Garden & Pet has been publicly traded since 2003.

The company’s Garden segment offers a broad portfolio of lawn and garden care solutions, including fertilizers, weed and pest control products, soil and mulch, and plant care accessories.