Picton Mahoney Asset Management Makes New Investment in Central Garden & Pet Company $CENTA

Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 22,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $661,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in 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 worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 3.4% in 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. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 4.9% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 12,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on CENTA shares. CJS Securities upgraded Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 price target (down from $31.00) on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Central Garden & Pet has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Ranelli sold 3,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $126,546.00. Following the completion of 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.38, for a total transaction of $108,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $428,766.10. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 20.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:CENTA opened at $32.56 on Friday. Central Garden & Pet Company has a one year low of $25.97 and a one year high of $37.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.42 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

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