Central Garden & Pet vs Spectrum Brands
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The short version
- Central Garden & Pet is the larger business, with $3.1B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.8B for Spectrum Brands.
- Central Garden & Pet grew revenue faster (−2.2%, against −5.2%).
- Central Garden & Pet kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (8.0% operating margin, against 4.5%).
- Central Garden & Pet turned more of its sales into free cash flow (9.3% FCF margin, against 5.9%).
- Central Garden & Pet earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (9.7%, against 5.3%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Spectrum Brands’s earnings: a P/E of 25.2x against 16.8x for Central Garden & Pet.
| Latest fiscal year | CENT · FY25 | SPB · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $2.8B | $1.8B |
| Revenue | $3.1B | $2.8B |
| Free cash flow | $291M | $165M |
| Net income | $163M | $99.9M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −2.2% | −5.2% |
| 5-year growth | 3.0% | 1.4% |
| Share count change | −4.6% | −15.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 31.9% | 36.7% |
| Operating margin | 8.0% | 4.5% |
| Net margin | 5.2% | 3.6% |
| FCF margin | 9.3% | 5.9% |
| Return on capital | 9.7% | 5.3% |
| Return on equity | 10.4% | 4.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $309M | $458M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.9x | 2.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $155M | $375M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 16.8x | 25.2x |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
CENT $1.8B
SPB $3.0B
FY17
CENT $2.1B
SPB $3.7B
FY18
CENT $2.2B
SPB $3.8B
FY19
CENT $2.4B
SPB $3.8B
FY20
CENT $2.7B
SPB $2.6B
FY21
CENT $3.3B
SPB $3.0B
FY22
CENT $3.3B
SPB $3.1B
FY23
CENT $3.3B
SPB $2.9B
FY24
CENT $3.2B
SPB $3.0B
FY25
CENT $3.1B
SPB $2.8B
CENT
SPB
Operating margin
FY16
CENT 7.1%
SPB 11.0%
FY17
CENT 7.6%
SPB 7.8%
FY18
CENT 7.6%
SPB 5.9%
FY19
CENT 6.4%
SPB −4.0%
FY20
CENT 7.3%
SPB 0.3%
FY21
CENT 7.7%
SPB 3.2%
FY22
CENT 7.8%
SPB 0.7%
FY23
CENT 6.4%
SPB −7.0%
FY24
CENT 5.8%
SPB 5.8%
FY25
CENT 8.0%
SPB 4.5%
CENT
SPB
Free cash flow
FY16
CENT $124M
SPB $852M
FY17
CENT $69.7M
SPB $758M
FY18
CENT $76.3M
SPB $267M
FY19
CENT $173M
SPB −$39.3M
FY20
CENT $221M
SPB $246M
FY21
CENT $171M
SPB $245M
FY22
CENT −$149M
SPB −$118M
FY23
CENT $328M
SPB −$469M
FY24
CENT $352M
SPB $119M
FY25
CENT $291M
SPB $165M
CENT
SPB
Return on capital
FY16
CENT 9.9%
SPB 4.7%
FY17
CENT 10.6%
SPB 3.0%
FY18
CENT 15.1%
SPB 2.6%
FY19
CENT 10.0%
SPB −2.6%
FY20
CENT 13.5%
SPB 0.2%
FY21
CENT 12.9%
SPB 2.1%
FY22
CENT 9.2%
SPB 0.5%
FY23
CENT 7.3%
SPB −5.0%
FY24
CENT 6.9%
SPB 4.5%
FY25
CENT 9.7%
SPB 5.3%
CENT
SPB
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.