Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from five analysts, while one analyst has rated it as a "Buy."
• The average target price set by analysts for CENTA is $38.67, reflecting a moderate outlook for the stock.
• Insider activity shows significant transactions with two insiders selling shares, reducing their ownership in the company, indicating potential investor caution.

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the five brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.6667.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CENTA shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Central Garden & Pet from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Central Garden & Pet from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Central Garden & Pet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Down 4.0%

NASDAQ:CENTA traded down $1.29 on Tuesday, reaching $31.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 979,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 330,291. Central Garden & Pet has a 1-year low of $27.70 and a 1-year high of $37.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 3.56. The firm has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 0.66. The business's 50-day moving average price is $33.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.31.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.22. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 4.44%.The firm had revenue of $960.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $993.66 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Central Garden & Pet news, insider John D. Walker III sold 3,500 shares of Central Garden & Pet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.59, for a total value of $114,065.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 67,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,194,219.52. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Ranelli sold 3,076 shares of Central Garden & Pet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.58, for a total value of $100,216.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,427 shares in the company, valued at $46,491.66. This represents a 68.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 20.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Central Garden & Pet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CENTA. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 197,652 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,532,000 after acquiring an additional 11,242 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in Central Garden & Pet by 131.0% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 16,668 shares of the company's stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 9,451 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Central Garden & Pet by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,678 shares of the company's stock worth $981,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Central Garden & Pet by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 15,708 shares of the company's stock worth $519,000 after buying an additional 4,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its position in Central Garden & Pet by 66.6% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 8,914 shares of the company's stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 3,563 shares during 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.