Analysts Set Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) PT at $40.75

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.75.

CENTA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. CJS Securities raised shares of Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (down from $31.00) on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report on Friday, January 16th.

Insider Activity at Central Garden & Pet

In other Central Garden & Pet news, Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 12,845 shares in the company, valued at $428,766.10. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 20.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Central Garden & Pet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guggenheim Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet during the fourth quarter valued at about $251,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 190,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 12,366 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Central Garden & Pet by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 49,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 9,238 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS purchased a new stake in Central Garden & Pet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $311,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Central Garden & Pet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Institutional investors own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

Central Garden & Pet Price Performance

NASDAQ:CENTA opened at $34.26 on Friday. Central Garden & Pet has a 52-week low of $25.97 and a 52-week high of $37.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.45 and a 200 day moving average of $30.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 3.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98 and a beta of 0.67.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $617.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, research analysts expect that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Central Garden & Pet

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.