Central Garden & Pet (CENT) To Post Q4 Earnings: What Awaits?

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) is scheduled to release fourth-quarter fiscal 2019 results on Nov 26.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal fourth-quarter earnings has been unchanged over the past 30 days at 17 cents per share. This suggests an increase of 70% from the year-ago period’s reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues is $518 million, indicating a rise of 3.2% from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.

Key Factors to Note

Central Garden & Pet has been gaining from strength in its Garden segment. This, in turn, has been benefiting from solid organic sales and contributions from buyouts. To this end, the acquisition of Arden Companies (concluded in February 2019) has been yielding results. The company also purchased C&S Products in June 2018, which contributed marginally to Pet segment sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2019. However, the segment was hurt by continued hurdles in the Animal Health business and unfavorable promotion timing. Nonetheless, the Pet segment has been benefiting from solid results at the aquatics and dog treat businesses.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter sales at the Garden and Pet segments is pegged at $172 million and $345 million, up from $163 million and $339 million reported in the year-ago period.

Apart from this, Central Garden & Pet’s margins have been gaining from the strong Garden segment, efficient pricing actions and solid cost-saving initiatives.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Central Garden & Pet this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. But that’s not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Central Garden & Pet has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Stocks With Favorable Combination

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

Costco (NASDAQ:COST) currently has an Earnings ESP of +1.01% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL) presently has an Earnings ESP of +0.44% and a Zacks Rank #2.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.47% and a Zacks Rank #3.

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