Brokerages Set Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) PT at $40.75

Shares of Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.75.

CENTA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 price target (down from $31.00) on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, CJS Securities upgraded Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ CENTA opened at $31.83 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.55. Central Garden & Pet has a 52 week low of $25.97 and a 52 week high of $37.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 3.42.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $617.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 10.99%. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Central Garden & Pet

In other Central Garden & Pet news, Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.38, for a total value of $108,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $428,766.10. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Ranelli sold 3,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $126,546.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,287. This represents a 85.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 20.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Central Garden & Pet

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CENTA. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Central Garden & Pet by 209.2% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,384,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,888,000 after acquiring an additional 936,852 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet during the 4th quarter worth about $13,749,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 181.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 549,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,222,000 after purchasing an additional 354,016 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Central Garden & Pet by 168.5% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 292,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,529,000 after buying an additional 183,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 1,109.1% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 196,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,811,000 after buying an additional 180,503 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

Central Garden & Pet Company Profile

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.