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

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.00.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research raised Central Garden & Pet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after buying an additional 2,532 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 48,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after acquiring an additional 17,556 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Central Garden & Pet by 2.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 179.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 180,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,921,000 after buying an additional 116,101 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 263,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,625,000 after buying an additional 12,749 shares during the last quarter. 50.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Central Garden & Pet Price Performance

Central Garden & Pet stock opened at $37.53 on Monday. Central Garden & Pet has a 52 week low of $25.97 and a 52 week high of $39.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.44.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.21. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 5.42%.The business had revenue of $906.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $846.58 million. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.