Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) Short Interest Up 25.0% in March

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,062,865 shares, an increase of 25.0% from the February 26th total of 850,263 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 215,635 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.38, for a total value 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Ranelli sold 3,668 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total value of $126,546.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,287. This represents a 85.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 20.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Central Garden & Pet

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 15.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 56.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 48,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after buying an additional 17,556 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 179.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 180,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,921,000 after acquiring an additional 116,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 263,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,625,000 after acquiring an additional 12,749 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Down 0.8%

CENTA traded down $0.27 on Tuesday, hitting $32.44. The company had a trading volume of 94,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 287,377. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.23 and a beta of 0.63. Central Garden & Pet has a 1 year low of $25.97 and a 1 year high of $37.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.42. 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 (NASDAQ:CENTA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.