Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.
According to Zacks, “Shares of Central Garden & Pet have outpaced the industry in a year. Management is revamping both Pet and Garden segments and applies a balanced approach that encompasses improvement in revenues and profits through operational efficiency. We believe that improved product offerings, strategic investments such as acquisitions of General Pet Supply and Bell Nursery, growth in e-commerce and cost containment efforts bode well for the company. These strategic endeavors have helped post better-than-expected second-quarter fiscal 2018 results, wherein both the top and bottom lines grew year over year. However, rise in cost of goods sold and occupancy, higher SG&A and interest expenses as well as seasonality of garden business remain concerns. Nevertheless, management raised fiscal 2018 adjusted earnings view and now expects the same to come in at $1.90 per share or more, reflecting an increase of 26.7% or higher year over year.”
Get Central Garden & Pet alerts:Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BidaskClub upgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 12th. KeyCorp restated a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Central Garden & Pet in a report on Monday, March 26th. ValuEngine upgraded Central Garden & Pet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 29th. Finally, SunTrust Banks upped their target price on Central Garden & Pet to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.50.
NASDAQ CENT opened at $43.54 on Tuesday. Central Garden & Pet has a one year low of $30.65 and a one year high of $45.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 3.87 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.03 and a beta of 0.09.
Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 7th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $613.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $591.76 million. Central Garden & Pet had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 5.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. sell-side analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.
In related news, insider Michael A. Reed sold 16,365 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $597,322.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Ranelli sold 9,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.77, for a total value of $403,623.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $295,908.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,479 shares of company stock valued at $1,850,839. Company insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.
A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CENT. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 7,060.6% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 448,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,275,000 after acquiring an additional 441,994 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 780.2% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 207,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,063,000 after acquiring an additional 183,631 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Central Garden & Pet during the 1st quarter valued at about $6,921,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,490,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,084,000 after acquiring an additional 39,159 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 844,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,326,000 after acquiring an additional 31,595 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 21.93% of the company’s stock.
Central Garden & Pet Company Profile
Central Garden & Pet Company, together with its subsidiaries, produces and distributes 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 supplies products for dogs and cats comprising edible bones, edible and non-edible chews, rawhide, dog and cat food and treats, toys, pet carriers, grooming supplies, and other accessories; and food, cages and habitats, toys, chews, and related accessories for birds, small animals, and specialty pets.
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