Central Garden & Pet Company $CENTA Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) by 52.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,636 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,400 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Central Garden & Pet were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CENTA. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 164.0% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 858 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Central Garden & Pet during the third quarter worth about $392,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Central Garden & Pet by 2.7% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 98,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,910,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 74,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,190,000 after acquiring an additional 9,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 51.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 9,764 shares in the last quarter. 50.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Up 0.9%

Central Garden & Pet stock opened at $33.74 on Wednesday. Central Garden & Pet Company has a 52 week low of $25.97 and a 52 week high of $37.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 3.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.77 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.47.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $617.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 5.04%.Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. Research analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CENTA. CJS Securities raised shares of Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research cut Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.75.

Central Garden & Pet 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.