Insider Selling: Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) Director Sells 3,668 Shares of Stock

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) Director John Ranelli sold 3,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total value of $126,546.00. Following the sale, the director owned 646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,287. The trade was a 85.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of CENTA traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $34.80. The stock had a trading volume of 276,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,794. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.39. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Central Garden & Pet Company has a fifty-two week low of $25.97 and a fifty-two week high of $37.35.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CENTA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 price target (down from $31.00) on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings raised Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. CJS Securities upgraded Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Central Garden & Pet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,804,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,437,000 after purchasing an additional 20,819 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,217,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,484,000 after buying an additional 115,706 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,174,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,034,000 after buying an additional 73,755 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,123,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,984,000 after acquiring an additional 738,860 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,924,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,729,000 after acquiring an additional 54,930 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

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.