Central Garden & Pet vs Colgate-Palmolive
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Central Garden & Pet and Colgate-Palmolive side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Colgate-Palmolive is the larger business, with $20.4B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $3.1B for Central Garden & Pet, about 6.5 times as much.
- Colgate-Palmolive grew revenue faster (1.4%, against −2.2%).
- Colgate-Palmolive kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (16.2% operating margin, against 8.0%).
- Colgate-Palmolive turned more of its sales into free cash flow (17.8% FCF margin, against 9.3%).
- Colgate-Palmolive earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (37.3%, against 9.7%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Colgate-Palmolive’s earnings: a P/E of 36.8x against 16.8x for Central Garden & Pet.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Central Garden & Pet
CENT
3/10
Piotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
Colgate-Palmolive
CL
7/10
Revenue growth5-year growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capital
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | CENT FY25 | CL FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $2.8B | $74.6B |
| Revenue | $3.1B | $20.4B |
| Free cash flow | $291M | $3.6B |
| Net income | $163M | $2.1B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −2.2% | 1.4% |
| 5-year growth | 3.0% | 4.4% |
| Share count change | −4.6% | −1.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 31.9% | 60.1% |
| Operating margin | 8.0% | 16.2% |
| Net margin | 5.2% | 10.5% |
| FCF margin | 9.3% | 17.8% |
| Return on capital | 9.7% | 37.3% |
| Return on equity | 10.4% | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $309M | $6.4B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.9x | 1.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $155M | $3.0B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 16.8x | 36.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 5 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.