Central Garden & Pet (CENT) Q4 Earnings: What's In Store?

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) is slated to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2016 results on Dec 1. The big question facing investors is, whether this producer and marketer of lawn & garden products as well as pet supplies will be able to deliver a positive earnings surprise in the quarter to be reported. In the trailing four quarters, the company outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by an average of 60.3%. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Zacks Model Shows Unlikely Earnings Beat

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Central Garden & Pet is likely to beat estimates this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy) or #3 (Hold) for this to happen.

Central Garden & Pet has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% as the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate both stand at 5 cents. The company carries a Zacks Rank #3, which increases the predictive power of ESP. However, the company’s ESP of 0.00% makes surprise prediction difficult. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Factors Influencing This Quarter

Organic growth, value accretive acquisitions such as that of the pet bedding business and divestment of non-strategic assets have been aiding Central Garden & Pet’s performance. These initiatives have helped the company to post better-than-expected earnings for the eighth-successive quarter.

Management anticipates its ongoing transformation efforts to yield results in the near future. The company intends to gain market share in the home centers, mass market, grocery, specialty pet store and other independent channels.

However, analysts remain concerned about the wild bird feed business, which had not been so impressive in the second and third quarter and may weigh on results in the quarter to be reported.

Other Stocks That Warrant a Look

Here are some companies you may want to consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat:

Sanderson Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFM) has an Earnings ESP of +4.48% and sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Ascena Retail Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ASNA) carries a Zacks Rank #3 and has an Earnings ESP of +14.29%.

Express Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) has an Earnings ESP of + 8.33% and also carries a Zacks Rank #3.

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