Royce & Associates LP Has $2.04 Million Position in Central Garden & Pet Company $CENT

Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) by 28.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,363 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,851 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.10% of Central Garden & Pet worth $2,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CENT. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 632.3% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 152.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the third quarter valued at $94,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the third quarter valued at $184,000. 16.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on CENT shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.00.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Down 1.9%

CENT opened at $38.48 on Friday. Central Garden & Pet Company has a twelve month low of $28.77 and a twelve month high of $41.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.50. 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 capitalization of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 0.62.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.21. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The business had revenue of $906.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $846.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.04 earnings per share. Central Garden & Pet’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. Analysts predict that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Central Garden & Pet Profile

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ: CENT) is a leading North American specialty retailer, manufacturer and distributor serving the lawn and garden and pet supplies markets. The company operates through two primary segments: Pet and Garden. In the Pet segment, Central Garden & Pet offers a comprehensive range of products including pet food, treats, accessories, training products and habitat solutions for dogs, cats, birds, fish and small animals. The Garden segment encompasses a wide array of lawn, garden and outdoor living products, such as soils, fertilizers, planters, pest control solutions, landscape lighting and watering equipment.

Central Garden & Pet’s product portfolio includes both proprietary and branded offerings.