Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) Share Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $34.97 and traded as high as $38.45. Central Garden & Pet shares last traded at $37.89, with a volume of 56,542 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on CENT shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Central Garden & Pet from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Down 1.3%

The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $37.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $906.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $846.58 million. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 5.42%.Central Garden & Pet’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. On average, analysts expect that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Central Garden & Pet

In other Central Garden & Pet 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 transaction, the director owned 646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,287. The trade was a 85.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 8.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,100,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,942,000 after purchasing an additional 32,716 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 808,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,178 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 385,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,409,000 after purchasing an additional 3,306 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 259,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,500,000 after purchasing an additional 72,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,347,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.13% of the company’s stock.

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.