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Central Garden & Pet Company (CENTA)

Consumer Defensive | Packaged Foods | Walnut Creek, United States | NasdaqGS
37.12 USD -0.51 (-1.355%) ⇩ (July 14, 2026, 4 p.m. EDT)

Short-term:★★★⯪☆Long-term:★★★⯪☆Dividends:★★⯪☆☆
Hot Take | July 11, 2026, 2:58 a.m. EDT

The investment case for Central Garden & Pet rests entirely on its recent operational turnaround rather than deep value or massive growth. Fundamentally, the company has successfully navigated a multi-year struggle, evidenced by a nearly 100% cumulative gain over the last nine years and a robust acceleration in earnings growth to 30.6%. With revenue growing at 8.7% and profit margins expanding to 5.4%, the business quality appears sound, supported by a healthy current ratio of 3.45 and manageable debt levels relative to equity. However, the valuation leaves little room for error. Trading at a forward P/E of roughly 12x and a price-to-book of 1.4x, the stock is priced as if the turnaround is permanent and fully realized. While the analyst consensus targets a mean of $43.50, implying upside, the margin of safety is thin given the sector's cyclicality. The recent price action shows resilience, holding above the 200-day moving average despite broader sector pressures, which supports a constructive short-term view. Yet, the absence of a dividend and the lack of significant options flow suggest the market remains cautious about further momentum. This is a solid recovery story, but not a high-conviction compounder yet.

Model Selection — Backtest MAE (log-scale, lower is better)
ModelMAE
MSTL_63_115 ✓0.041624
MSTL_630.048794
AutoETS0.059008
AutoARIMA0.059008
AutoTheta0.059786
MSTL0.061095
MSTL_1150.061270

Forecast horizon: 60 days | Selected: MSTL_63_115

Forecast Reliability
Score 44%
H-stat 15.14
Ljung-Box p 0.000
Jarque-Bera p 0.249
Excess Kurtosis -0.74
Attribute Value
Sector Consumer Defensive
Debt to Equity Ratio 85.846
Revenue per Share 51.327
Market Cap 2,322,627,328
Trailing P/E 13.50
Forward P/E 12.03
Beta 0.52
Profit Margins 5.42%
Website https://www.central.com

As of July 11, 2026, 2:58 a.m. EDT: Options activity is extremely thin with negligible volume and open interest across both calls and puts. Implied volatility is low for near-term expirations but spikes significantly for September puts, suggesting a specific, albeit low-volume, fear of a drop to the $40 strike. The lack of meaningful positioning indicates a lack of speculative conviction in either direction.


Info Dump

Attribute Value
52 Week Change 0.037451148
Address1 1,340 Treat Boulevard
Address2 Suite 600
All Time High 44.656
All Time Low 1.608
Ask 47.78
Ask Size 2
Average Daily Volume10 Day 276,170
Average Daily Volume3 Month 349,965
Average Volume 349,965
Average Volume10Days 276,170
Beta 0.524
Bid 27.02
Bid Size 2
Book Value 26.425
City Walnut Creek
Compensation As Of Epoch Date 1,767,139,200
Country United States
Crypto Tradeable 0
Currency USD
Current Price 37.12
Current Ratio 3.45
Custom Price Alert Confidence HIGH
Date Short Interest 1,782,777,600
Day High 37.955
Day Low 36.9
Debt To Equity 85.846
Earnings Call Timestamp End 1,778,099,400
Earnings Call Timestamp Start 1,778,099,400
Earnings Growth 0.306
Earnings Quarterly Growth 0.248
Earnings Timestamp 1,778,097,600
Earnings Timestamp End 1,785,960,000
Earnings Timestamp Start 1,785,960,000
Ebitda 361,508,992
Ebitda Margins 0.11431
Enterprise To Ebitda 8.545
Enterprise To Revenue 0.977
Enterprise Value 3,088,951,296
Eps Current Year 2.96599
Eps Forward 3.08537
Eps Trailing Twelve Months 2.75
Esg Populated 0
Exchange NMS
Exchange Data Delayed By 0
Exchange Timezone Name America/New_York
Exchange Timezone Short Name EDT
Fifty Day Average 35.966
Fifty Day Average Change 1.1539993
Fifty Day Average Change Percent 0.03208584
Fifty Two Week Change Percent 3.7451148
Fifty Two Week High 39.99
Fifty Two Week High Change -2.8700027
Fifty Two Week High Change Percent -0.07176801
Fifty Two Week Low 25.97
Fifty Two Week Low Change 11.15
Fifty Two Week Low Change Percent 0.42934155
Fifty Two Week Range 25.97 - 39.99
Financial Currency USD
First Trade Date Milliseconds 1,170,772,200,000
Float Shares 57,396,801
Forward Eps 3.08537
Forward P E 12.030972
Free Cashflow 237,739,872
Full Exchange Name NasdaqGS
Full Time Employees 6,000
Gmt Off Set Milliseconds -14,400,000
Gross Margins 0.32231998
Gross Profits 1,019,377,984
Has Pre Post Market Data 1
Held Percent Insiders 0.03553
Held Percent Institutions 0.96426004
Implied Shares Outstanding 62,570,779
Industry Packaged Foods
Industry Disp Packaged Foods
Industry Key packaged-foods
Ir Website http://ir.central.com/
Is Earnings Date Estimate 1
Language en-US
Last Fiscal Year End 1,758,931,200
Last Split Date 1,707,436,800
Last Split Factor 125:100
Long Business Summary Central Garden & Pet Company produces and distributes various 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 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.
Long Name Central Garden & Pet Company
Market us_market
Market Cap 2,322,627,328
Market State PRE
Max Age 86,400
Message Board Id finmb_325333
Most Recent Quarter 1,774,656,000
Net Income To Common 171,463,008
Next Fiscal Year End 1,790,467,200
Non Diluted Market Cap 2,418,079,756
Number Of Analyst Opinions 4
Open 37.78
Operating Cashflow 328,340,000
Operating Margins 0.12599
Payout Ratio 0.0
Peg Ratio 1.87
Phone (925) 948-4000
Pre Market Change -0.20999908
Pre Market Change Percent -0.56573033
Pre Market Price 36.91
Pre Market Time 1,784,102,800
Previous Close 37.629997
Price Eps Current Year 12.515214
Price Hint 2
Price To Book 1.4047303
Price To Sales Trailing12 Months 0.7344007
Profit Margins 0.05422
Quick Ratio 2.076
Quote Source Name Nasdaq Real Time Price
Quote Type EQUITY
Recommendation Key none
Region US
Regular Market Change -0.5099983
Regular Market Change Percent -1.3552973
Regular Market Day High 37.955
Regular Market Day Low 36.9
Regular Market Day Range 36.9 - 37.955
Regular Market Open 37.78
Regular Market Previous Close 37.629997
Regular Market Price 37.12
Regular Market Time 1,784,059,201
Regular Market Volume 219,409
Return On Assets 0.04709
Return On Equity 0.10752
Revenue Growth 0.087
Revenue Per Share 51.327
Sand P52 Week Change 0.2043345
Sector Consumer Defensive
Sector Disp Consumer Defensive
Sector Key consumer-defensive
Shares Outstanding 51,318,184
Shares Percent Shares Out 0.015700001
Shares Short 979,775
Shares Short Previous Month Date 1,780,012,800
Shares Short Prior Month 829,864
Short Name Central Garden & Pet Company
Short Percent Of Float 0.027
Short Ratio 2.19
Source Interval 15
State CA
Symbol CENTA
Target High Price 50.0
Target Low Price 32.0
Target Mean Price 43.5
Target Median Price 46.0
Total Cash 653,241,984
Total Cash Per Share 10.44
Total Debt 1,418,471,040
Total Revenue 3,162,616,064
Tradeable 0
Trailing Annual Dividend Rate 0.0
Trailing Annual Dividend Yield 0.0
Trailing Eps 2.75
Trailing P E 13.498181
Trailing Peg Ratio None
Triggerable 1
Two Hundred Day Average 32.08755
Two Hundred Day Average Change 5.032448
Two Hundred Day Average Change Percent 0.1568349
Type Disp Equity
Volume 219,409
Website https://www.central.com
Zip 94,597