Picton Mahoney Asset Management Purchases New Shares in Central Garden & Pet Company $CENTA

Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 22,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $661,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CENTA. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 164.0% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 444.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management purchased a new stake in Central Garden & Pet in the second quarter worth about $87,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 239.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 4,388 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Central Garden & Pet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $214,000. 50.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CENTA shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Central Garden & Pet to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. CJS Securities raised Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered 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 issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Central Garden & Pet has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.75.

Central Garden & Pet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CENTA opened at $32.56 on Friday. Central Garden & Pet Company has a fifty-two week low of $25.97 and a fifty-two week high of $37.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.54. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 0.64. 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:CENTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $617.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 5.04%.Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. Analysts expect that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Central Garden & Pet news, Director John Ranelli sold 3,668 shares of Central Garden & Pet stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $126,546.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,287. The trade was a 85.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 20.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Central Garden & Pet Profile

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.