Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.6667.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Central Garden & Pet from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 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, August 8th.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of Central Garden & Pet stock opened at $37.21 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $38.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.52. Central Garden & Pet has a fifty-two week low of $25.97 and a fifty-two week high of $40.79. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $882.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $882.96 million. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 5.39%.Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.850- EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Central Garden & Pet

In other Central Garden & Pet news, insider John D. Walker III sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.50, for a total value of $192,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 64,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,490,141.50. This trade represents a 7.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 20.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Central Garden & Pet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CENTA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,804,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,437,000 after purchasing an additional 20,819 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 5,319.4% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,708,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,025,000 after buying an additional 2,658,951 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,174,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,034,000 after buying an additional 73,755 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its position in Central Garden & Pet by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,123,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,984,000 after buying an additional 738,860 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Central Garden & Pet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,038,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,317,000 after buying an additional 17,263 shares during the period. 50.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.