Zacks Research Upgrades Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) to “Strong-Buy”

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Central Garden & Pet from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Up 1.1%

CENT stock opened at $42.85 on Thursday. Central Garden & Pet has a 1-year low of $28.77 and a 1-year high of $43.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 3.45 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.12.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.21. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 5.42%.The business had revenue of $906.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $846.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 77,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 10,132 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 37,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 11,508 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 16,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 59.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 181,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,684,000 after buying an additional 67,800 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 51,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after buying an additional 7,462 shares during the period. 16.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Central Garden & Pet

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.