Central Garden & Pet Company $CENT Shares Sold by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its stake in Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) by 65.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,059 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,564 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Central Garden & Pet were worth $230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stenger Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Central Garden & Pet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 222.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 152.3% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 42.4% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CENT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. CJS Securities raised shares of Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.50.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CENT opened at $37.74 on Wednesday. Central Garden & Pet Company has a 1-year low of $28.77 and a 1-year high of $41.25. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.65.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $617.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.62 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.38 earnings per share 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.