William E. Brown Sells 40,000 Shares of Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) Stock

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) Chairman William E. Brown sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.42, for a total transaction of $1,296,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,030,365 shares in the company, valued at $33,404,433.30. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Central Garden & Pet Price Performance

NASDAQ:CENTA opened at $31.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.07. Central Garden & Pet has a 12-month low of $27.70 and a 12-month high of $39.97.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $833.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $876.36 million. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 3.77% and a return on equity of 10.08%. Research analysts expect that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CENTA. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 108.0% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 756,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,753,000 after acquiring an additional 392,672 shares during the last quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 89.8% during the 4th quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC now owns 685,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,667,000 after acquiring an additional 324,493 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,979,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,606,000 after acquiring an additional 306,449 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,245,000. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,025,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,551,000 after acquiring an additional 229,324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CENTA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Central Garden & Pet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

About Central Garden & Pet

Central Garden & Pet Co engages in the production and distribution of branded and private label products for the lawn, garden, and pet supplies markets. It operates through the Pet and Garden segments. The Pet segment focuses on dog and cat supplies such as dog treats and chews, toys, pet beds and containment, grooming products, waste management and training pads, supplies for aquatics, small animals, reptiles and pet birds including toys, cages and habitats, bedding, food and supplements, products for equine and livestock, animal and household health and insect control products, live fish, and small animals, as well as outdoor cushions.