Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Central Garden & Pet from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

Central Garden & Pet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CENTA opened at $37.76 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.44. Central Garden & Pet has a twelve month low of $25.97 and a twelve month high of $38.76.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Central Garden & Pet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CENTA. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 235,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,954,000 after acquiring an additional 32,496 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,924,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,729,000 after acquiring an additional 54,930 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,217,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,484,000 after acquiring an additional 115,706 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Central Garden & Pet during the 4th quarter valued at about $893,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Central Garden & Pet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $661,000. 50.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.