Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $41.57 and last traded at $41.0860, with a volume of 11,704 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CENTA. Wall Street Zen lowered Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Central Garden & Pet from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.67.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Down 1.0%

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $36.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 3.79.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $882.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $882.96 million. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 11.13%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Central Garden & Pet

In other Central Garden & Pet news, insider John Walker, III sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.50, for a total transaction of $192,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 64,679 shares in the company, valued at $2,490,141.50. This represents a 7.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 20.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Central Garden & Pet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 123.8% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 743 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 1.4% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 33,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 22.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 3.6% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 20,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $799,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 96.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. 50.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Central Garden & Pet

Central Garden & Pet Company is a manufacturer and distributor of products for the pet and garden markets. The company offers supplies for dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles and other companion animals, as well as products for lawn and garden care, pest control, wild bird feeding and outdoor living.

Its portfolio includes well-known brands such as Nylabone, Kaytee, Aqueon, Zilla, Four Paws, K&H Pet Products, Pennington, Amdro, Sevin, Lilly Miller, Ironite and Ferry-Morse. Products are sold through mass merchants, warehouse clubs, home improvement stores, specialty retailers, independent retailers and e-commerce channels.

Central Garden & Pet serves customers primarily in the United States and also has operations and sales activities in Canada.