Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $35.85 and traded as high as $40.62. Central Garden & Pet shares last traded at $39.94, with a volume of 48,796 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CENT. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Central Garden & Pet from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.00.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Up 0.8%

The company has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.01. The company has a current ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last issued its quarterly 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. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 5.42%.The company had revenue of $906.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $846.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 808,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,825,000 after buying an additional 4,178 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 385,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,409,000 after buying an additional 3,306 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 259,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,500,000 after buying an additional 72,977 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the 1st quarter worth $7,347,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.