Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.6667.

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Central Garden & Pet from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Central Garden & Pet from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Central Garden & Pet from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Zacks Research lowered Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Walker, III sold 5,000 shares of Central Garden & Pet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.50, for a total value of $192,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 64,679 shares in the company, valued at $2,490,141.50. The trade was a 7.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 20.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Central Garden & Pet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the second quarter worth $332,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 5,319.4% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,708,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,025,000 after purchasing an additional 2,658,951 shares during the period. Odyssean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the second quarter worth approximately $290,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the second quarter worth approximately $586,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Central Garden & Pet by 37.6% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 10,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

Central Garden & Pet Price Performance

Shares of Central Garden & Pet stock opened at $36.07 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $38.02 and a 200 day moving average of $35.61. Central Garden & Pet has a 52 week low of $25.97 and a 52 week high of $40.79.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.03. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The business had revenue of $882.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $882.96 million. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.850- EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current 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.