Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) Short Interest Down 17.4% in May

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 651,900 shares, a decline of 17.4% from the May 15th total of 789,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 220,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Central Garden & Pet Price Performance

CENTA stock traded down $1.33 on Friday, reaching $32.57. The company had a trading volume of 334,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 257,452. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 3.33. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.63 and its 200 day moving average is $34.22. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 0.74. Central Garden & Pet has a 1 year low of $27.88 and a 1 year high of $41.03.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENTA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $900.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $895.68 million. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 11.30%. On average, research analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman William E. Brown sold 700,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,189,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,123,543.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman William E. Brown sold 700,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.25, for a total value of $25,375,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,189,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,123,543.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John D. Walker III sold 4,218 shares of Central Garden & Pet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.31, for a total transaction of $170,027.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 85,063 shares in the company, valued at $3,428,889.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 714,218 shares of company stock worth $25,945,528. Corporate insiders own 20.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Central Garden & Pet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 9.1% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 873,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,242,000 after buying an additional 73,192 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 10,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 59.4% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 9,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 3,689 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 19.3% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 23,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 3,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Central Garden & Pet by 1,704.3% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 160,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,923,000 after purchasing an additional 151,529 shares in the last quarter. 50.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on CENTA. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Central Garden & Pet from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective 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. Argus upgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.75.

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.