Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) Short Interest Update

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,062,865 shares, an increase of 25.0% from the February 26th total of 850,263 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 215,635 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Central Garden & Pet Trading Up 0.4%

CENTA traded up $0.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $32.64. 7,906 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 283,536. 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 50 day simple moving average of $32.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.42. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.63. Central Garden & Pet has a 1 year low of $25.97 and a 1 year high of $37.35.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $617.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Central Garden & Pet

In other Central Garden & Pet news, Director John Ranelli sold 3,668 shares of the company’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 sale, the director directly owned 646 shares in the company, valued at $22,287. This represents a 85.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.38, for a total value 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. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 20.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CENTA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Central Garden & Pet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,804,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,437,000 after acquiring an additional 20,819 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 5.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,217,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,484,000 after purchasing an additional 115,706 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 3.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,174,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,034,000 after purchasing an additional 73,755 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,123,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,984,000 after purchasing an additional 738,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,924,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,729,000 after purchasing an additional 54,930 shares in the last quarter. 50.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Central Garden & Pet

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.