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Central Garden (CENT)'s Technical Outlook is Bright After Key Golden Cross

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After reaching an important support level, Central Garden & Pet Company (CENT - Free Report) could be a good stock pick from a technical perspective. CENT recently experienced a "golden cross" event, which saw its 50-day simple moving average breaking out above its 200-day simple moving average.

There's a reason traders love a golden cross -- it's a technical chart pattern that can indicate a bullish breakout is on the horizon. This kind of crossover is formed when a stock's short-term moving average breaks above a longer-term moving average. Typically, a golden cross involves the 50-day and the 200-day moving averages, since bigger time periods tend to form stronger breakouts.

A successful golden cross event has three stages. It first begins when a stock's price on the decline bottoms out. Then, its shorter moving average crosses above its longer moving average, triggering a positive trend reversal. The third and final phase occurs when the stock maintains its upward momentum.

A golden cross contrasts with a death cross, another widely-followed chart pattern that suggests bearish momentum could be on the horizon.

Shares of CENT have been moving higher over the past four weeks, up 6.6%. Plus, the company is currently a #1 (Strong Buy) on the Zacks Rank, suggesting that CENT could be poised for a breakout.

Once investors consider CENT's positive earnings outlook for the current quarter, the bullish case only solidifies. No earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months compared to 2 revisions higher, and the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased as well.

Moving Average Chart for CENT

Given this move in earnings estimates and the positive technical factor, investors may want to keep their eye on CENT for more gains in the near future.


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