Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) Director Sells $108,485.00 in Stock

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of Central Garden & Pet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.38, for a total transaction of $108,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $428,766.10. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Performance

Shares of CENTA opened at $33.98 on Friday. Central Garden & Pet Company has a one year low of $25.97 and a one year high of $37.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.42 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 0.67.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $617.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CENTA. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Central Garden & Pet to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Zacks Research downgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price (down from $31.00) on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 173,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,420,000 after buying an additional 17,508 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 8.2% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 831,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,016,000 after purchasing an additional 63,008 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in Central Garden & Pet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,431,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 3.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 941,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,454,000 after purchasing an additional 30,763 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,749,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,751,000 after buying an additional 167,901 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

Central Garden & Pet Company 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.