Highbridge Capital Management LLC Sells 26,291 Shares of Central Garden & Pet Company $CENTA

Highbridge Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) by 5.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 464,843 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,291 shares during the period. Highbridge Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Central Garden & Pet were worth $13,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 209.2% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,384,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,888,000 after purchasing an additional 936,852 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 10.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,749,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,751,000 after buying an additional 167,901 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 237.5% in the third quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 211,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,249,000 after buying an additional 148,900 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in Central Garden & Pet by 105.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 256,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,023,000 after buying an additional 131,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Central Garden & Pet by 179.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 180,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,921,000 after buying an additional 116,101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Central Garden & Pet

Here are the key news stories impacting Central Garden & Pet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised several near‑term and multi‑year EPS estimates for CENTA (including Q1/Q2/Q3 2026, Q1–Q3 2027 and FY2026/FY2028), lifting FY2026 to ~2.84 and FY2028 to ~2.95 — these upward revisions improve the company’s earnings trajectory versus prior forecasts and are a likely catalyst for the stock’s gains.
• Positive Sentiment: Central Garden & Pet will participate in investor conferences (J.P. Morgan High Yield & Leveraged Finance Conference on March 3); CFO Brad Smith will appear on a fireside chat and management will take one‑on‑one meetings — increased analyst/investor access can boost sentiment and reduce information uncertainty. Central Garden & Pet to Participate in Investor Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reporting for February shows anomalous/zero values (a flagged large increase but with 0 shares reported and NaN changes), which appears to be a data glitch — no clear directional pressure from short activity based on the published figures.

Insider Transactions at Central Garden & Pet

In other Central Garden & Pet news, Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 12,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $428,766.10. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 20.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CENTA shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $28.00 target price (down from $31.00) on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Central Garden & Pet to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.75.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Up 1.8%

NASDAQ:CENTA opened at $35.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Central Garden & Pet Company has a 12-month low of $25.97 and a 12-month high of $37.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38 and a beta of 0.67.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.10. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 10.99%. The firm had revenue of $617.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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.