Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $34.17 and traded as high as $38.86. Central Garden & Pet shares last traded at $38.75, with a volume of 32,540 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CENT. Weiss Ratings raised Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research lowered Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.50.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Down 0.6%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 0.63.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.10. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 5.04%.The business had revenue of $617.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. On average, analysts predict that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.38, for a total transaction of $108,485.00. Following the sale, the director owned 12,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $428,766.10. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John Ranelli sold 3,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 646 shares in the company, valued at $22,287. This represents a 85.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Central Garden & Pet

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 145.3% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 28,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 16,825 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 38,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,225,000 after purchasing an additional 17,457 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet during the fourth quarter worth $246,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 126.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 6,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 26.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 43,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 9,050 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.13% of the company’s stock.

Central Garden & Pet Company Profile

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.