Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) Insider Sells $192,500.00 in Stock

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) insider John Walker III sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.50, for a total transaction of $192,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 64,679 shares in the company, valued at $2,490,141.50. This represents a 7.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ CENT traded up $0.45 on Wednesday, reaching $44.59. The company had a trading volume of 108,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 80,358. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $43.20 and its 200-day moving average is $39.34. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Central Garden & Pet Company has a 52 week low of $28.77 and a 52 week high of $46.97.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The firm had revenue of $883.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $882.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.850- EPS. Equities analysts predict that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research lowered Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Central Garden & Pet from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Central Garden & Pet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Central Garden & Pet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 632.3% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Central Garden & Pet during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Central Garden & Pet by 119.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Central Garden & Pet by 1,532.7% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 152.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. 16.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.