Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

CENT has been the topic of several other research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Central Garden & Pet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CENT opened at $42.85 on Thursday. Central Garden & Pet has a 1-year low of $28.77 and a 1-year high of $43.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $38.32 and its 200-day moving average is $36.12. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $906.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.04 earnings per share. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Central Garden & Pet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Central Garden & Pet by 15.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 77,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 10,132 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 45.0% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 37,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 11,508 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 23.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 16,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 59.5% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 181,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,684,000 after purchasing an additional 67,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 17.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 51,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 7,462 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.