Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares of Central Garden & Pet crossed above its 200-day moving average
• Analysts are mixed but collectively rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target of $42.50 after recent upgrades and downgrades (Weiss raised to hold; Zacks cut to hold).
• Fundamentals are mixed — the company beat EPS (reported $0.21 vs. $0.11) while revenue fell 5.9% YoY, it guided FY2026 EPS around $2.70, and two directors recently sold sizeable stakes, reducing insider ownership.

Shares of Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT - Get Free Report) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $33.94 and traded as high as $37.51. Central Garden & Pet shares last traded at $37.38, with a volume of 49,250 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CENT. Weiss Ratings raised Central Garden & Pet from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research cut Central Garden & Pet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.50.

Central Garden & Pet Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.94. The company has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $617.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 5.04%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.21 EPS. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Central Garden & Pet

In other news, Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.38, for a total value of $108,485.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,845 shares in the company, valued at $428,766.10. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Ranelli sold 3,668 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total value of $126,546.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 646 shares in the company, valued at $22,287. This represents a 85.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 8.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 3.1% in 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 last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 4,178 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 3,306 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 72,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Central Garden & Pet in the 1st quarter worth $7,347,000. 16.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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