Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned 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 brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.75.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CENTA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. CJS Securities upgraded Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered Central Garden & Pet from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report on Wednesday, December 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Central Garden & Pet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its position in Central Garden & Pet by 0.5% in the second quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 58,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,829,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 8,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Orchard Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Orchard Capital Management LLC now owns 11,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 14,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. 50.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:CENTA opened at $29.28 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.96. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 0.65. Central Garden & Pet has a fifty-two week low of $25.97 and a fifty-two week high of $37.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 3.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

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

Central Garden & Pet Company Profile

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.