Analysts Set Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) PT at $41.50

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.50.

Several research firms recently weighed in on CENTA. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report on Monday, December 22nd.

Institutional Trading of Central Garden & Pet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CENTA. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 164.0% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Central Garden & Pet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 444.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 152.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Up 0.2%

CENTA opened at $29.60 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 3.67 and a quick ratio of 2.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.63. Central Garden & Pet has a 12 month low of $25.97 and a 12 month high of $37.35.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by $0.11. The company had revenue of $678.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $657.86 million. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 11.17% and a net margin of 5.20%.Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 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.