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Forensic Analysis · Nondurable-Goods Wholesale · as of Nov 8, 2026

Central Garden & Pet Co (CENT)

A forensic read on Central Garden & Pet Co built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
4.8
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
1
Forensic signals
10.4%
ROE
-2.2%
Revenue growth

This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.

Central Garden & Pet Co earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 4.8, placing it in the Safe zone. 1 forensic signal was flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.

What the filings flag

8.4%
FY2025
Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is 8.4% in the latest fiscal year and rising across FY2023–FY2025 from 6.7%. After-tax operating profit was $164M in FY2023 and $189M in FY2025, with operating income at 6.4% of revenue in FY2023, 5.8% in FY2024 and 8.0% in FY2025. The capital base behind it went from $2.4B in FY2023 to $2.2B in FY2025 (-8%), while the revenue it carried went from $3.3B to $3.1B.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$3.13B
Revenue Growth YoY-2.2%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)-2.8%
Net Margin5.2%
Free Cash Flow$291.1M
Return on Equity10.4%
Debt / Equity0.75x

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Nov 8, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.

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