John Ranelli Sells 3,668 Shares of Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) Stock

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) Director John Ranelli sold 3,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total value of $126,546.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,287. This trade represents a 85.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Central Garden & Pet Price Performance

Shares of CENT opened at $39.88 on Wednesday. Central Garden & Pet Company has a 12 month low of $28.77 and a 12 month high of $41.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.42 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.67. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 0.73.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $617.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 5.04%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Central Garden & Pet

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 3.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,100,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,942,000 after buying an additional 32,716 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 808,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,178 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Central Garden & Pet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 385,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,409,000 after acquiring an additional 3,306 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Central Garden & Pet by 39.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 259,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,500,000 after acquiring an additional 72,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 258,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,107,000 after acquiring an additional 22,187 shares during the last quarter. 16.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. CJS Securities raised Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.50.

About Central Garden & Pet

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ: CENT) is a leading North American specialty retailer, manufacturer and distributor serving the lawn and garden and pet supplies markets. The company operates through two primary segments: Pet and Garden. In the Pet segment, Central Garden & Pet offers a comprehensive range of products including pet food, treats, accessories, training products and habitat solutions for dogs, cats, birds, fish and small animals. The Garden segment encompasses a wide array of lawn, garden and outdoor living products, such as soils, fertilizers, planters, pest control solutions, landscape lighting and watering equipment.

Central Garden & Pet’s product portfolio includes both proprietary and branded offerings.