Central Garden & Pet (CENT) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Central Garden & Pet Co. engages in the production and distribution of branded and private label products for the lawn, garden, and pet supplies markets. It operates through the Pet and Garden segments. The Pet segment focuses on dog and cat supplies such as dog treats and chews, toys, pet beds and containment, grooming products, waste management and training pads, supplies for aquatics, small animals, reptiles and pet birds including toys, cages and habitats, bedding, food and supplements, products for equine and livestock, animal and household health and insect control products, live fish, and small animals, as well as outdoor cushions. The Garden segment includes lawn and garden consumables such as grass, vegetable, flower and herb seed, wild bird feed, bird houses and other birding accessories, weed, grass, and other herbicides, insecticide and pesticide products, fertilizers, and live plants. The company was founded by William E. Brown in 1980 and is headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $34.88 to $35.79
• 50-Day Range: $33.56 to $36.96
• 52-Week Range: $31.97 to $46.85
• Volume: 80,449 shs
• Average Volume: 145,869 shs
• Market Capitalization: $2.33 billion
• P/E Ratio: 19.52
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $43.33
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Central Garden & Pet Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Central Garden & Pet scored higher than 47% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 193rd out of 277 stocks in the consumer discretionary sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.4 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Central Garden & Pet has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.75, and is based on 1 buy rating, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Central Garden & Pet has only been the subject of 1 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 2.10%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Central Garden & Pet are expected to grow by 2.10% in the coming year, from $2.38 to $2.43 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Central Garden & Pet is 19.52, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 24.80.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Central Garden & Pet is 19.52, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Consumer Discretionary sector average P/E ratio of about 15.16.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Central Garden & Pet has a P/B Ratio of 1.53. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

13.54% of the float of Central Garden & Pet has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Central Garden & Pet has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 5.4.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Central Garden & Pet has recently decreased by 1.61%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

Dividend

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Dividend Strength: N/A

Dividend Yield

Central Garden & Pet does not currently pay a dividend.

Dividend Growth

Central Garden & Pet does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 1.8 / 5
• Environmental Score: -3.45

Percentage of Shares Shorted

13.54% of the float of Central Garden & Pet has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Central Garden & Pet has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 5.4.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Central Garden & Pet has recently decreased by 1.61%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

News and Social Media

• Score: 0.9 / 5
• News Sentiment: -0.38

News Sentiment

Central Garden & Pet has a news sentiment score of -0.38. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.79 average news sentiment score of Consumer Discretionary companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 7 news articles for Central Garden & Pet this week, compared to 4 articles on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.8 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Central Garden & Pet insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $3,240,200.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 8.19% of the stock of Central Garden & Pet is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

Only 16.13% of the stock of Central Garden & Pet is held by institutions.

CENT Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have CENT shares performed this year?

Central Garden & Pet's stock was trading at $38.80 at the beginning of the year. Since then, CENT stock has decreased by 8.5% and is now trading at $35.52.
View the best growth stocks for 2025 here.

How were Central Garden & Pet's earnings last quarter?

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May, 7th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.10. Central Garden & Pet's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis.
Read the conference call transcript.

When did Central Garden & Pet's stock split?

Central Garden & Pet's stock split on the morning of Friday, February 9th 2024. The 5-4 split was announced on Friday, February 9th 2024. The newly issued shares were distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, February 9th 2024. An investor that had 100 shares of stock prior to the split would have 125 shares after the split.

Does Central Garden & Pet have any subsidiaries?

Central Garden & Pet subsidiaries include these companies: Green Garden.

Who are Central Garden & Pet's major shareholders?

Central Garden & Pet's top institutional investors include Vanguard Group Inc. (1.64%), Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC (1.25%), Millennium Management LLC (0.40%) and American Century Companies Inc. (0.36%). Insiders that own company stock include William E Brown, Nicholas Lahanas, John D Walker III, Brooks Pennington III, John Edward Hanson and John Ranelli.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Central Garden & Pet?

Shares of CENT stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Central Garden & Pet own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Central Garden & Pet investors own include NVIDIA (NVDA), Meta Platforms (META), Broadcom (AVGO), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Adobe (ADBE), ServiceNow (NOW) and Arista Networks (ANET).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 5/07/2025
• Today: 5/23/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 8/06/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 9/30/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Consumer Discretionary
• Industry: Miscellaneous nondurable goods
• Sub-Industry: Wholesale
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:CENT
• CIK: 887733
• Web: www.central.com
• Phone: (925) 948-4000
• Fax: 302-636-5454
• Employees: 7,000
• Year Founded: 1980

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $43.33
• High Stock Price Target: $50.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $35.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +22.0%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.75
• Research Coverage: 4 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $1.87
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 19.52
• Forward P/E Ratio: 14.92
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $107.98 million
• Net Margins: 3.77%
• Pretax Margin: 5.00%
• Return on Equity: 10.08%
• Return on Assets: 4.38%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.78
• Current Ratio: 3.47
• Quick Ratio: 1.97

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $3.16 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.74
• Cash Flow: $3.54 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 10.03
• Book Value: $23.20 per share
• Price / Book: 1.53

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 65,507,000
• Free Float: 60,142,000
• Market Cap: $2.33 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.73