Central Garden & Pet Company $CENT Holdings Raised by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) by 59.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 181,787 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,800 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Central Garden & Pet were worth $6,684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 632.3% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 974 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 1,532.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 152.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet during the third quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CENT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ CENT opened at $44.07 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Central Garden & Pet Company has a one year low of $28.77 and a one year high of $45.78. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 0.61.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $906.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $846.58 million. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 5.42%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.