Brendan Dougher Sells 3,250 Shares of Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) Stock

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $428,766.10. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of CENT stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $37.34. 71,272 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 69,936. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24 and a beta of 0.73. Central Garden & Pet Company has a 12-month low of $28.77 and a 12-month high of $41.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.65. 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:CENT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $617.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 10.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.21 earnings per share. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Central Garden & Pet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CENT. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the 1st quarter worth $7,347,000. Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Central Garden & Pet by 120.9% during the third quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 156,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,113,000 after purchasing an additional 85,706 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 39.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 259,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,500,000 after purchasing an additional 72,977 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 37.7% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 149,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,247,000 after purchasing an additional 40,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,100,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,942,000 after buying an additional 32,716 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, CJS Securities raised Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.50.

Central Garden & Pet Company 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.