Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

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

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. CJS Securities raised shares of Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price (down from $31.00) on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the company’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 sale, the director owned 12,845 shares in the company, valued at $428,766.10. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John Ranelli sold 3,668 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,287. The trade was a 85.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 20.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Central Garden & Pet

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 212,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,230,000 after buying an additional 39,339 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Central Garden & Pet by 16.0% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 235,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,954,000 after buying an additional 32,496 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its position in Central Garden & Pet by 209.2% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,384,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,888,000 after buying an additional 936,852 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the second quarter worth $1,431,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 3.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 941,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,454,000 after acquiring an additional 30,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of CENTA stock opened at $32.28 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.53. Central Garden & Pet has a 1-year low of $25.97 and a 1-year high of $37.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 0.63. 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:CENTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $617.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.