WinstonWınston
Central Garden & Pet Company logo

Central Garden & Pet Company

CENTA
55
Packaged Foods · Consumer Defensive
Price
$38.29
-0.71 (-1.82%)
Market Cap
$2.73B
Exchange
NASDAQ Global Select
Winston Score
55
Winston is curious
A decent business — some strong pillars, some weaker.

Share count rising — dilution

+15.5% over 4y

The company has issued more shares over this period, which dilutes each existing shareholder’s stake.

Diluted shares outstanding: 55.2M (2021) → 63.8M (2025)

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.

Winston Score History

Politician Trades

1 trades / 12mo

1 Congressional buy and 0 sells on CENTA in the last 12 months.

Unlock the full Smart Money Map — every trade plotted on the price chart with politicians, amounts and returns since each trade. Founder's Deal is $57/mo locked for life.

Unlock politician trades

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+8.7% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

+30.3% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (2%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

8.3%ownership

Insiders own a meaningful stake in the company

Cash Runway

~3 years

$669M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

$669M cash & investments at current burn rate

Growth context

Central Garden & Pet Company is growing revenue at 9% year-over-year. The Winston Score measures business quality today — these growth metrics show what could matter tomorrow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Each metric is explained in plain language so you know exactly what you're looking at. Start your free trial now.

Quality

Gross Margin
33.1%
Modest — 33.1% gross margin
Operating Margin
12.6%
Healthy — 12.6% operating margin
ROCE
3.9%
Weak — 3.9% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Growth

Sales YoY
+6.1%
Slow sales growth (6.1% YoY)
EPS YoY
+3550.0%
Earnings growing fast (3550.0% YoY)

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

EPS Consistency
6/8 quarters
Earnings grew in most of the last 8 quarters

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Cash Flow

Cash Conversion
154%
Turns 154% of profit into real cash
FCF Margin
9.1%
Modest free cash flow (9.1%)

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

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Stability

Debt / Equity
0.75
Moderate — manageable debt (0.75)
Interest Cover
5.87x
Adequate interest coverage (5.9x)

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

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)
10.5x
Attractive valuation — P/E 10.5

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

P/E vs Forward
-1.2
SLOWING
Earnings expected to fall — forward P/E higher than today

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Dividends

Not applicable for this business.
🔒 See full fundamentals and if they are improving or declining — click here for your free trial now.
Start free trial