Jennison Associates LLC Grows Holdings in Central Garden & Pet Company $CENTA

Key Points

• Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 118% in Q4, buying 31,708 shares to hold 58,573 shares worth about $1.71 million (≈0.09% of the company).
• Analysts are mixed but the consensus is a Moderate Buy with a $44.00 average price target, while firms moved ratings both ways (Canaccord to Buy; JPMorgan cut its price target to $32 and set an Underweight).
• Directors sold shares in February (notably Brendan Dougher and John Ranelli), as institutional investors own roughly 50.82% of the stock and corporate insiders hold about 20.28%.

Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENTA - Free Report) by 118.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,573 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,708 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.09% of Central Garden & Pet worth $1,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 13,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC acquired a new position in Central Garden & Pet in the 4th quarter valued at $718,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,804,612 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,437,000 after buying an additional 20,819 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 176.2% in the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 204,824 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,979,000 after buying an additional 130,659 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,681 shares of the company's stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CENTA. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Central Garden & Pet to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Central Garden & Pet from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Central Garden & Pet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Brendan Dougher sold 3,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.38, for a total transaction of $108,485.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,845 shares of the company's stock, valued at $428,766.10. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Ranelli sold 3,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $126,546.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,287. The trade was a 85.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 20.28% of the company's stock.

Central Garden & Pet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CENTA opened at $33.48 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Central Garden & Pet Company has a fifty-two week low of $25.97 and a fifty-two week high of $37.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $33.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.03.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.10. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 10.99%. The business had revenue of $617.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $636.62 million. Central Garden & Pet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.700- EPS. Analysts expect that Central Garden & Pet Company will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Central Garden & Pet Company Profile

Central Garden & Pet Co is a leading producer, marketer and distributor of branded consumable gardening products and pet supplies in North America. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, the company serves both retail and wholesale customers through a network of distribution centers across the United States and Canada. Operating under the ticker symbol CENTA on the NASDAQ exchange, Central Garden & Pet has been publicly traded since 2003.

The company's Garden segment offers a broad portfolio of lawn and garden care solutions, including fertilizers, weed and pest control products, soil and mulch, and plant care accessories.

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