Brokerages Set Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) Target Price at $41.50

Shares of Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.50.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Zacks Research cut shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, CJS Securities raised shares of Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Central Garden & Pet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 164.0% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 858 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Central Garden & Pet in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Central Garden & Pet by 444.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 152.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Performance

Shares of Central Garden & Pet stock opened at $29.60 on Thursday. Central Garden & Pet has a 52 week low of $25.97 and a 52 week high of $37.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 3.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.63.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $678.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $657.86 million. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 11.17% and a net margin of 5.20%.Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 EPS for the current 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.