Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) Receives $41.00 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.00.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CENTA shares. Argus downgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Central Garden & Pet from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Up 0.6 %

CENTA stock opened at $32.67 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 3.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.10. Central Garden & Pet has a 52 week low of $27.70 and a 52 week high of $41.03.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last issued 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 net margin of 3.77% and a return on equity of 10.08%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Central Garden & Pet

In other Central Garden & Pet news, insider John D. Walker III sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.86, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 12.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 20.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CENTA. Highbridge Capital Management LLC grew its position in Central Garden & Pet by 89.8% in the fourth quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC now owns 685,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,667,000 after acquiring an additional 324,493 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,979,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,606,000 after acquiring an additional 306,449 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet during the 4th quarter worth about $8,245,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Central Garden & Pet during the third quarter valued at about $7,621,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,373,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,381,000 after purchasing an additional 170,121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

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.