Rhumbline Advisers Purchases 678 Shares of Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 160,457 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.24% of Central Garden & Pet worth $5,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its position in Central Garden & Pet by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 76,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,399,000 after purchasing an additional 19,306 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 161.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 122,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,849,000 after buying an additional 75,718 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 5.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 773,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,273,000 after buying an additional 41,241 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 255,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,431,000 after buying an additional 12,413 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,012,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Central Garden & Pet

In related news, insider John D. Walker III sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.86, for a total value of $328,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 67,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,205,267.46. This represents a 12.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 20.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CENTA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus cut Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Down 2.3 %

CENTA opened at $30.72 on Friday. Central Garden & Pet has a one year low of $27.70 and a one year high of $41.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 3.47 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 0.76.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.24. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 10.08% and a net margin of 3.77%. Analysts predict that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

About Central Garden & Pet

Central Garden & Pet Co engages in the production and distribution of branded and private label products for the lawn, garden, and pet supplies markets. It operates through the Pet and Garden segments. The Pet segment focuses on dog and cat supplies such as dog treats and chews, toys, pet beds and containment, grooming products, waste management and training pads, supplies for aquatics, small animals, reptiles and pet birds including toys, cages and habitats, bedding, food and supplements, products for equine and livestock, animal and household health and insect control products, live fish and small animals as well as outdoor cushions.