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

Company Overview

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ: CENT) is a leading North American specialty retailer, manufacturer and distributor serving the lawn and garden and pet supplies markets. The company operates through two primary segments: Pet and Garden. In the Pet segment, Central Garden & Pet offers a comprehensive range of products including pet food, treats, accessories, training products and habitat solutions for dogs, cats, birds, fish and small animals. The Garden segment encompasses a wide array of lawn, garden and outdoor living products, such as soils, fertilizers, planters, pest control solutions, landscape lighting and watering equipment.

Central Garden & Pet’s product portfolio includes both proprietary and branded offerings. In the pet category, the company markets well-known brands like Kaytee, Kaytee Exact, JW Pet and Redmon, as well as private-label items sold through retail partners. In the garden category, leading brands include BioAdvanced, Vigoro, Zia, Pennington and Boniato, among others. The company’s distribution network spans over 60 facilities across the United States and Canada, enabling it to supply independent garden centers, mass merchandisers, home improvement chains, e-commerce outlets and feed stores.

Founded in 1960 and headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, Central Garden & Pet has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions. The company’s history of targeted acquisitions has broadened its product offerings and geographic reach, while maintaining a focus on innovation, customer service and supply chain efficiency. Under the leadership of Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer William H. Post II, Central Garden & Pet continues to invest in manufacturing capabilities and digital initiatives to support retail partners and strengthen its market position.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $43.25 to $44.55
• 50-Day Range: $37.78 to $45.15
• 52-Week Range: $28.77 to $45.78
• Volume: 101,738 shs
• Average Volume: 78,688 shs
• Market Capitalization: $2.71 billion
• P/E Ratio: 15.73
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $54.00
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Central Garden & Pet Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Central Garden & Pet scored higher than 83% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 67th out of 266 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: 4.0 / 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 strong buy rating, 1 buy rating, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Central Garden & Pet has a consensus price target of $54.00, representing about 24.9% upside from its current price of $43.25.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Central Garden & Pet has only been the subject of 3 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 3.81%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Central Garden & Pet are expected to grow by 3.81% in the coming year, from $2.89 to $3.00 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Central Garden & Pet is 15.73, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 40.04.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Central Garden & Pet is 15.73, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Consumer Discretionary sector average P/E ratio of about 20.14.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Central Garden & Pet has a P/B Ratio of 1.72. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

0.52% 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 3.44, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Central Garden & Pet has recently decreased by 18.09%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

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.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.3 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.71

News Sentiment

Central Garden & Pet has a news sentiment score of 0.71. 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 0.85 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: 0.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Central Garden & Pet insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

8.20% of the stock of Central Garden & Pet is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

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

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 5/06/2026
• Today: 7/28/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 8/05/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 9/30/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Consumer Discretionary
• Industry: CONSM PD - MISC DIS
• Sub-Industry: Wholesale
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:CENT
• CIK: 887733
• Web: www.central.com
• Phone: (925) 948-4000
• Fax: 302-636-5454
• Employees: 6,000
• Year Founded: 1980

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Central Garden & Pet: $54.00
• High Price Target: $54.00
• Low Price Target: $54.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +24.9%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.75
• Research Coverage: 4 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $2.75
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 15.73
• Forward P/E Ratio: 14.97
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $162.84 million
• Net Margins: 5.42%
• Pretax Margin: 7.18%
• Return on Equity: 11.55%
• Return on Assets: 5.04%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.72
• Current Ratio: 3.45
• Quick Ratio: 2.16

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $3.16 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.86
• Cash Flow: $4.13 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 10.47
• Book Value: $25.21 per share
• Price / Book: 1.72

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 62,571,000
• Free Float: 57,440,000
• Market Cap: $2.71 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.60