Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) Director Sells $126,546.00 in Stock

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) Director John Ranelli sold 3,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total value of $126,546.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,287. The trade was a 85.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Performance

Shares of Central Garden & Pet stock traded down $0.28 on Monday, hitting $39.39. The stock had a trading volume of 68,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 74,938. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.08 and a beta of 0.73. 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 Company has a 52-week low of $28.77 and a 52-week high of $41.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $33.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.60.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $617.37 million for 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%.The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Central Garden & Pet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 259,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,500,000 after buying an additional 72,977 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 6.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after buying an additional 3,199 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Central Garden & Pet during the first quarter worth $7,347,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Central Garden & Pet by 222.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. 16.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CENT. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. CJS Securities raised Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Central Garden & Pet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.