Q4 EPS Estimate for Central Garden & Pet Lowered by Analyst

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q4 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report released on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the company will post earnings of ($0.04) per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.05. The consensus estimate for Central Garden & Pet’s current full-year earnings is $2.38 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Central Garden & Pet’s Q4 2027 earnings at ($0.02) EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.88 EPS.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 5.04%.The firm had revenue of $617.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS.

CENTA has been the subject of several other reports. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Central Garden & Pet to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 price target (down from $31.00) on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Central Garden & Pet has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.75.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Up 1.8%

CENTA opened at $35.23 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.70 and a 200-day moving average of $30.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Central Garden & Pet has a 1-year low of $25.97 and a 1-year high of $37.35.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Central Garden & Pet

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 22.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 212,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,230,000 after purchasing an additional 39,339 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Central Garden & Pet by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 235,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,954,000 after purchasing an additional 32,496 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 209.2% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,384,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,888,000 after buying an additional 936,852 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Central Garden & Pet in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,431,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Central Garden & Pet by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 941,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,454,000 after buying an additional 30,763 shares during the last quarter. 50.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 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 transaction, the director owned 12,845 shares in the company, valued at $428,766.10. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 20.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting 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.

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.