Quality Investor

Central Garden & Pet Company

Rank #263Capital Return

CENTA · Nasdaq · Consumer Defensive

Central Garden & Pet Company (CENTA) — Rank #263 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.26) · ROE 9.3% · Piotroski F-Score 8 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000887733 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Central Garden & Pet Company produces and distributes various products for the lawn and garden, and pet supplies markets in the United States.

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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 items, waste management, and training pads; supplies for aquatics, small animals, reptiles, and pet birds, including toys, enclosures, 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. This segment sells its products under the Aqueon, Cadet, Comfort Zone, Farnam, Four Paws, K&H Pet Products, Kaytee, Nylabone, and Zilla brands. Its Garden segment offers lawn and garden supplies products that include grass seed; vegetable; flower and herb packet seed; wild bird feed, bird feeders, bird houses, and other birding accessories; fertilizers; decorative products; live plants; and weed and grass, as well as other herbicides, insecticide, and pesticide products. This segment sells its lawn and garden supplies products under the Amdro, Ferry-Morse, Pennington, and Sevin brands. The company sells its products to independent distributors, big-box retailers, national and regional retail chains, eCommerce and online retailers, grocery stores, nurseries, and mass merchants.

Central Garden & Pet Company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Walnut Creek, California.

Industry
Packaged Foods
Sector
Consumer Defensive
State
DE
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
September 27

Price History

CENTA+6.9% · +1.3% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/E and reverse DCF are the primary valuation lenses at this stage.

Market Cap

$2.16B

P/E (annual)

13.5

P/S (annual)

0.7

P/B

1.2

P/OCF (annual)

6.5

Shareholder Yield

4.6%

Employees

6,000

Industry

Packaged Foods

Exchange

Nasdaq

Signal Flags

3 green1 red
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 3-quarter streak
Revenue declining YoYRevenue contracted year over year

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.26
Return on equity
9.3%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
1.17
Current ratio
3.79×
Net cash
-$196.35M

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
0.7%

Growth

1/2 pass
Revenue growth
-2.2%
Piotroski F-Score
8 / 9
Share dilution
-4.6%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 1/5 Terry Smith thresholds

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

-5.9%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Buyback tailwind: -4.6% — per-share value needs a total required return of -10.4% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 0.1%

within its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

-9.4%

r = 10% (base)

-5.9%

r = 12%

-2.9%

Net debt / market cap: 8.9%

Base FCF: $291.1M3Y mean FCF: $323.5M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

12.1xCheap
10.1xmed 13.0x26.9x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

0.6xExpensive
0.5xmed 0.6x0.7x

P / B

Price / book value per share

1.2xFair
1.1xmed 1.4x2.2x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

2.0xFair
1.6xmed 1.9x2.4x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

6.8xFair
4.7xmed 7.5x17.4x

FCF yield, shareholder yield, and buyback activity are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.26

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

3rd of 5 SIC 51 peers

Return on equity

9.3%

Gross margin

31.9%

3rd of 5 SIC 51 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

-2.2%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2022202320242025
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

-2.1%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

3.0%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

2.3%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

1.17

Current ratio

3.79×

1st of 5 SIC 51 peers

Quick ratio

2.58×

Net cash

-$196.35M

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$291.09M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

0.79

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

0.7%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

8 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20202025
Capital Return
Hypergrowth
Value