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Central Garden & Pet Company

CENTA
55
Packaged Foods · Consumer Defensive
Exchange
NASDAQ Global Select
Winston Score
55
Winston is curious
A decent business — some strong pillars, some weaker.
Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jun 27, 2026
How the score breaks down
Quality
Mixed
Growth
Good
Cash Flow
Strong
Stability
Good
Valuation
Strong

Winston Score History

The full picture

Central Garden & Pet makes products for two main areas of everyday life: gardens and pets. Its garden brands include Pennington grass seed, Roundup (licensed), and AMDRO ant killer, while its pet brands cover things like Kaytee bird food, Adams flea treatments, and Four Paws accessories. The company sells these products to large retailers like Walmart, Home Depot, and Petco, making it a significant supplier in the U.S. consumer staples space.

Central Garden & Pet earns money by selling branded and private-label products through retail stores across the United States, with limited international exposure. Its competitive position comes from owning a broad portfolio of recognized brands across both categories, which gives it shelf-space leverage with major retailers. However, the company faces ongoing pressure from rising input costs, private-label competition, and its dependence on a small number of large retail customers who hold significant pricing power over suppliers.

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Score breakdown

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Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
35.9%
Modest — 35.9% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
14.3%
Healthy — 14.3% operating margin
Return on the money invested
ROCE
8.5%
Below par — 8.5% return on capital

ROIC between 5% and 15%. They earn 5 to 15 cents back per year on every dollar invested.

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Growth

Sales growth
Sales YoY
-1.2%
Shrinking sales (-1.2% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
+365.5%
Earnings growing fast (+365.5% YoY)

Earnings growing 25%+ a year. The compounder zone.

How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
5/8 quarters
Mixed — about half the quarters showed growth

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
163%
Turns 163% of profit into real cash
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
6.6%
Modest free cash flow (6.6%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
0.68
Moderate — manageable debt (0.68)
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
4.37x
Adequate interest coverage (4.4x)

Interest coverage between 3 and 8. Profits cover interest several times over.

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Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
16.4x
no trend
Fair value — P/E 16.4

P/E in the normal range. Price is roughly $15 for every $1 of yearly profit.

Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
+4.4
GROWING
Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (16.4 → 12.0)

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.
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