Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of 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 $33.85 and traded as high as $36.99. Central Garden & Pet shares last traded at $36.90, with a volume of 53,055 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on CENT. Zacks Research lowered Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. CJS Securities upgraded 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.50.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Down 1.0%

The stock has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.42 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $617.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.62 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Central Garden & Pet news, Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the firm’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. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Ranelli sold 3,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total value of $126,546.00. Following the sale, the director owned 646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,287. This represents a 85.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Central Garden & Pet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 3.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,100,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,942,000 after buying an additional 32,716 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $25,825,000 after buying an additional 4,178 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 385,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,409,000 after buying an additional 3,306 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 39.2% during 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. increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 9.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 258,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,107,000 after acquiring an additional 22,187 shares in the last quarter. 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.