Stocks · Consumer Defensive · Packaged Foods
Central Garden & Pet Company CENT
$39.81 +1.56% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $2.49B
Strong trendInexpensive vs sector
Next earnings report: Nov 23, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $2.68, up 362.1% year over year.
- Earnings beat analyst estimates in each of the last 13 quarters (average surprise over the last four: +41.2%).
- The stock is in an uptrend: above its 200-day average for 169 trading days, with the 50-day average above the 200-day.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Consumer Defensive sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 29%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 2%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 49%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 21%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 26%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalBottom 44%
- Gross marginBottom 47%
- Operating marginTop 43%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Top 28%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 47%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 33%
- Interest coverBottom 46%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 18%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 13%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 14%
- Sales / enterprise valueTop 38%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Bottom 43%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 18%
- 6-month returnTop 21%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 18%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 24%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 24%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 16%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 6%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 34%
- Upside to consensus price targetTop 38%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 14%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 38%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Bottom 49%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 33%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 0.2% | -1.2% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 1000.0% | 362.1% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 31.1% | 32.5% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 7.2% | 8.1% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 10.0% | 11.2% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | -1.2% | 0.2% | ↓ | Bottom 29% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 362.1% | 1000.0% | ↓ | Top 2% |
| Gross margin | 32.5% | 31.1% | ↑ | Bottom 47% |
| Operating margin | 8.1% | 7.2% | ↑ | Top 43% |
| Net margin | 5.4% | 4.4% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 11.2% | 10.0% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 5.8% | — | Bottom 44% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | -2.1% | — | Bottom 21% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 2.35×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -5.9%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.7%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -10.8 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 1.05×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 4.4×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.00%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 1.17%
- Shareholder yield
- 1.17%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -3.6%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +5.1%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 27, 2026 (filed Aug 6, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 13
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 8 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +41.2%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +0.2%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 4 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $54.00
- Target vs current price
- +35.6%
- Analysts with a rating
- 10
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 60%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026 | +0.7% | -0.0% | +0.2% | -4.4% | — |
| May 6, 2026 | +19.4% | +2.1% | +6.0% | +4.7% | +19.3% |
| Feb 4, 2026 | +90.9% | +1.8% | +9.5% | +11.5% | +7.4% |
| Nov 24, 2025 | +53.9% | -2.7% | +4.4% | -0.2% | +22.9% |
| Aug 6, 2025 | +16.4% | -0.5% | -11.1% | -6.6% | -21.3% |
| May 7, 2025 | +10.6% | -0.3% | +5.5% | +2.7% | +12.6% |
| Feb 5, 2025 | +800.0% | +0.7% | +6.9% | -2.7% | -7.9% |
| Nov 25, 2024 | +5.3% | +0.3% | +5.4% | +1.4% | -3.1% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026 | $1.54 | $1.53 | +0.7% | $882.4M |
| May 6, 2026 | $1.29 | $1.08 | +19.4% | $906.2M |
| Feb 4, 2026 | $0.21 | $0.11 | +90.9% | $617.4M |
| Nov 24, 2025 | -$0.09 | -$0.20 | +53.9% | $678.2M |
| Aug 6, 2025 | $1.56 | $1.34 | +16.4% | $960.9M |
| May 7, 2025 | $1.04 | $0.94 | +10.6% | $833.5M |
| Feb 5, 2025 | $0.21 | -$0.03 | +800.0% | $656.4M |
| Nov 25, 2024 | -$0.18 | -$0.19 | +5.3% | $669.5M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 14.9× | 14.9× | 50th | Top 18% |
| P/E (forward) | 13.4× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 7.4× | — | — | Top 14% |
| EV / Sales | 0.94× | — | — | Top 38% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 13.88% | — | — | Top 13% |
| Earnings yield | 6.73% | — | — | Top 18% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 11.4× – 200.8× since Jun 26, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +23.2%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +362.1%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -71.3%
Most of the move came from earnings growth.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✓ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 169
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -3.3%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +1.8%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -5.9%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +2.3%
- RSI (14)
- 41.4
- Relative volume
- 1.00×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 24.5%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 6th percentile · Low for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.40
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.21
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -14.5%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -43.0%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 3, 2024 | Oct 13, 2025 | -43.0% | 445 days | Not yet recovered |
| May 7, 2021 | May 25, 2023 | -39.6% | 516 days | 139 days (Dec 13, 2023) |
| Oct 12, 2020 | Dec 24, 2020 | -16.1% | 52 days | 21 days (Jan 27, 2021) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $2.49B
- P/E (TTM)
- 14.9
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $2.68
- Revenue (TTM)
- $3.08B
- 52-week range
- $28.77 – $46.97
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3.30B | $3.34B | $3.31B | $3.20B | $3.13B |
| Gross profit | $970.9M | $992.3M | $946.8M | $943.7M | $972.8M |
| Operating income | $257.1M | $260.0M | $210.6M | $185.4M | $265.0M |
| Net income | $151.7M | $152.2M | $125.6M | $108.0M | $162.8M |
| EPS (diluted) | $2.20 | $2.24 | $1.88 | $1.62 | $2.55 |
| Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $669.5M | $656.4M | $833.5M | $960.9M | $678.2M | $617.4M | $906.2M | $882.4M |
| Net income | -$34.2M | $14.0M | $63.6M | $95.0M | -$9.8M | $6.8M | $79.4M | $89.9M |
| EPS (diluted) | -$2.13 | $0.21 | $0.98 | $1.52 | -$0.16 | $0.11 | $1.28 | $1.45 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $250.8M | -$34.0M | $381.6M | $394.9M | $332.5M |
| Capital expenditure | -$80.3M | -$115.2M | -$54.0M | -$43.1M | -$41.4M |
| Free cash flow | $170.5M | -$149.2M | $327.7M | $351.8M | $291.1M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net share buybacks | -$27.9M | -$62.3M | -$37.2M | -$24.1M | -$155.1M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $996.7M
- Total assets
- $3.79B
- Total liabilities
- $2.04B
- Total debt
- $1.41B
- Net debt
- $411.9M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $1.75B
As of Jun 27, 2026 (filed Aug 6, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 6, 2007 | $29.20 | — |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 385,057
- Days to cover
- 4.89
- Change vs previous report
- -9.6%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Feb 9, 2024
- 1,277-for-1,000