Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) Price Target Lowered to $38.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) had its price target decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $40.00 to $38.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on CENTA. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $40.50.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Up 0.8 %

CENTA opened at $33.51 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $34.84 and its 200-day moving average is $35.40. Central Garden & Pet has a 1-year low of $27.88 and a 1-year high of $41.03. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05 and a beta of 0.75.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.16. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 11.30%. The company had revenue of $900.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $895.68 million. Equities research analysts predict that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Central Garden & Pet news, Chairman William E. Brown sold 700,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.25, for a total transaction of $25,375,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,189,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,123,543.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Central Garden & Pet news, Chairman William E. Brown sold 700,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.25, for a total transaction of $25,375,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,189,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,123,543.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Howard Machek sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.05, for a total transaction of $400,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 51,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,061,533.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 714,218 shares of company stock worth $25,945,528. 20.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,636,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,093,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,309 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,740,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,711,000 after acquiring an additional 23,601 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,303,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,040,000 after acquiring an additional 457,699 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,087,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,059,000 after acquiring an additional 480,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,112,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,070,000 after acquiring an additional 74,256 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.82% of the company’s stock.

About Central Garden & Pet

Central Garden & Pet Company produces and distributes various products for the lawn and garden, and pet supplies markets in the United States. It operates through two segments: Pet and Garden. The Pet segment provides 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, and food and supplements; products for equine and livestock; animal and household health and insect control products; aquariums and terrariums, including fixtures and stands, water conditioners and supplements, water pumps and filters, and lighting systems and accessories; and live fish and small animals, as well as outdoor cushions.