Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New $650,000 Investment in Central Garden & Pet Company $CENT

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $650,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CENT. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Central Garden & Pet during the 1st quarter worth about $255,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Central Garden & Pet by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 259,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,500,000 after purchasing an additional 72,977 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 3,199 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,347,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 25,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CENT shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Central Garden & Pet Price Performance

CENT opened at $43.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 3.79 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The business’s 50-day moving average is $43.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.23. Central Garden & Pet Company has a 1 year low of $28.77 and a 1 year high of $46.97.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The business had revenue of $883.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $882.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.850- EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Central Garden & Pet

In related news, insider John D. Walker III sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.50, for a total transaction of $192,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 64,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,490,141.50. This represents a 7.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Central Garden & Pet Company Profile

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.