Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 17,576 Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 17,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CENT. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Central Garden & Pet by 1.7% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 148,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,431,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 138,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,365,000 after buying an additional 25,968 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 73,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,867,000 after buying an additional 2,129 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 53,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,070,000 after buying an additional 2,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Central Garden & Pet by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 48,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,878,000 after buying an additional 2,297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Central Garden & Pet news, insider John D. Walker III sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.86, for a total transaction of $328,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 67,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,205,267.46. This represents a 12.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 8.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Central Garden & Pet Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of Central Garden & Pet stock opened at $33.67 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.75 and a 200-day moving average of $37.14. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 0.73. Central Garden & Pet has a 52-week low of $32.17 and a 52-week high of $47.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 3.47.

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.24. Central Garden & Pet had a net margin of 3.77% and a return on equity of 10.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Central Garden & Pet will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CENT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Central Garden & Pet from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Argus downgraded shares of Central Garden & Pet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Central Garden & Pet Profile

Central Garden & Pet Co engages in the production and distribution of branded and private label products for the lawn, garden, and pet supplies markets. It operates through the Pet and Garden segments. The Pet segment focuses on 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, food and supplements, products for equine and livestock, animal and household health and insect control products, live fish and small animals as well as outdoor cushions.