| Over a week ago | ||||
Central Garden & Pet… Central Garden & Pet announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Green Garden Products, previously known as Plantation Products, for $532M from private equity firm Freeman Spogli & Co and other shareholders. Green Garden, headquartered in Norton, Massachusetts, is a provider of vegetable, herb and flower seed packets, seed starters and plant nutrients in North America, shipping over 250M seed packets annually. The addition of Green Garden's brands will expand the Central portfolio into an attractive adjacent category and strengthen the company's relationship with major retailers. Established in 1980, Green Garden currently employs over 180 full-time employees. ). With production and distribution facilities in Ohio, California and Manitoba, Canada, Green Garden distributes more than 3,500 product SKUs to a network of over 70,000 retail locations across the home center, mass merchant, farm and independent, dollar store, and distributor/co-op channels in the United States and Canada as well as through its owned and operated websites. The transaction is expected to close in Q2 of fiscal FY21, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. Central senior management will provide more details on its recent acquisitions at the company's Q1 earnings call. | ||||
| Over a month ago | ||||
Central Garden & Pet… Central Garden & Pet announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Hopewell Nursery, a live goods grower serving retail nurseries, landscape contractors, wholesalers and garden centers across the Northeast. The company said the addition of Hopewell Nursery to the Central portfolio further bolsters its position as a leading live goods provider in the garden segment. The Hopewell acquisition follows the company's addition of Bell Nursery in 2018. Hopewell Nursery, with headquarters in Bridgeton, NJ, was founded in 1988. The company owns over 1,800 acres of farmland in New Jersey and Maryland, which include over 9.5M square feet of polyhouse production, 100 acres of pot-in-pot production and offers over 2,000 different varieties of plants, mostly in the trees and shrubs categories. The company currently employs approximately 500 people. | ||||
Virtual Investor Day will… Virtual Investor Day will be held on December 3 at 1 pm. Webcast Link | ||||
Virtual Investor Day will… Virtual Investor Day will be held on December 3 at 1 pm. Webcast Link | ||||
| Over a quarter ago | ||||
SunTrust analyst Bill… SunTrust analyst Bill Chappell raises his price target on Buy-rated Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) to $150 from $140 and on Hold-rated Central Garden & Pet (CENT) to $35 from $30 as part of a broader Consumer Staples research note, citing the findings of his survey about consumer activity trends during the mandated shelter-in-place orders. The analyst notes that a "whopping" 42% of respondents indicated they have or plan to garden during the shelter-at-home weeks, which is a long-term positive for Scotts Miracle-Gro as many consumers will likely stay in the category for years to come. According to Chappell, over 25% of respondents also indicated that they have recently or planning to adopt a dog or a cat, which will drive Central Garden & Pet's pet food product category. | ||||
BofA analyst Chris Carey… BofA analyst Chris Carey upgraded Central Garden & Pet to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $33, up from $31. He views Central's cash rich balance sheet and low net leverage as attractive for providing defensive exposure in the current market volatility, adding that EPS expectations are already low. | |
BofA upgraded Central… BofA upgraded Central Garden & Pet to Buy from Neutral. | |
SunTrust analyst Bill… SunTrust analyst Bill Chappell raised his price target on Central Garden & Pet to $30 and kept his Hold rating after its Q1 earnings beat. The analyst notes that Q1 is typically the "smallest sales / largest loss" for the company, and that he also remains concerned about the management's looming "significant investment phase", with little visibility on how much incremental investment will be needed to raise sales to the levels that the management deems acceptable. |