Brendan Dougher Sells 3,250 Shares of Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) Stock

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.38, for a total value of $108,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $428,766.10. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Up 0.0%

CENT opened at $37.35 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.35 and a 200-day moving average of $33.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24 and a beta of 0.73. Central Garden & Pet Company has a fifty-two week low of $28.77 and a fifty-two week high of $41.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 3.42.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 10.99%. The business had revenue of $617.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. Central Garden & Pet’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

More Central Garden & Pet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Central Garden & Pet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded CENT to a Buy (Zacks Rank #2), which can attract momentum and retail interest and tends to support near-term buying pressure. All You Need to Know About Central Garden (CENT) Rating Upgrade to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Central appointed longtime executive Kay M. Schwichtenberg to the Board effective March 1 — adds experienced animal-health leadership and continuity (positive governance signal). Central Garden & Pet Announces Kay M. Schwichtenberg as New Director
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 surprised on EPS (beat) and the company issued FY2026 guidance (2.70 EPS), giving investors clearer forward expectations — supports valuation vs. peers.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple Zacks pieces highlight CENT as a value/momentum candidate; useful for investor interest but less immediately market-moving than hard news. Should Value Investors Buy Central Garden & Pet (CENT) Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reports in the data feed show zero shares (likely a reporting anomaly) and thus provide no clear short-pressure signal today.
• Negative Sentiment: Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares (filed with the SEC), a disclosed insider sale that can signal profit-taking and may weigh on sentiment. Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) Director Brendan Dougher Sells 3,250 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue for the recent quarter missed consensus (down ~5.9% y/y), which tempers the EPS beat and leaves growth concerns for some investors.

Institutional Trading of Central Garden & Pet

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the first quarter worth about $255,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Central Garden & Pet by 39.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 259,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,500,000 after buying an additional 72,977 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 6.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 3,199 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in Central Garden & Pet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,347,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 17.6% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,652 shares during the last quarter. 16.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CENT. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. CJS Securities upgraded Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research 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. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.50.

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.