Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) Receives Underweight Rating from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA)‘s stock had its “underweight” rating restated by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $28.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $31.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 7.10% from the stock’s previous close.

CENTA has been the subject of several other reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. CJS Securities raised Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Central Garden & Pet presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.75.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Performance

Shares of CENTA opened at $30.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.99. Central Garden & Pet has a 12 month low of $25.97 and a 12 month high of $37.35. The company has a current ratio of 3.67, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by $0.11. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 11.17% and a net margin of 5.20%.The firm had revenue of $678.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $657.86 million. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Central Garden & Pet

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of 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. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 25,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 0.9% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 280,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,272,000 after purchasing an additional 2,505 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet during the 3rd quarter valued at $516,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. 50.82% of the stock is owned by 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.