Back to top

Image: Shutterstock

Central Garden's (CENT) Hopewell Buyout to Boost Garden Wing

Read MoreHide Full Article

Central Garden & Pet Company (CENT - Free Report) is committed toward reinforcing its position via prudent buyouts in garden and pet units. In regard to this, the company unveiled that it has agreed to buy Hopewell Nursery. This deal, which follows the addition of Bell Nursery to the company’s portfolio in 2018, is likely to conclude on Dec 31. However, other terms of the deal including purchase price remain undisclosed.

Talking about Hopewell Nursery, it is a key live goods grower that caters to retail nurseries, landscape contractors, wholesalers and garden centers in the Northeast. Hopewell Nursery — which will be part of the company’s Garden unit — presently owns more than 1,800 acres of farmland in New Jersey as well as Maryland. It employs about 500 people. Central Garden & Pet’s chief operating officer of Bell Nursery will direct the company’s live goods business, while daily operations will continue to be controlled by the present Hopewell employees.

Markedly, the addition of Hopewell Nursery will strengthen Central Garden’s position in the live goods space with high-quality offerings.We note that Central Garden & Pet is a producer and distributor of branded and private-label products for lawn & garden, as well as pet supply markets. Acquisitions form an important part of the company’s strategy. It has expanded the business via more than 50 acquisitions since 1992. Through these buyouts, Central Garden also looks to enhance manufacturing capabilities, operating synergies, distribution network, economies of scale and market advantages.

Over the past three years, the company has bought four businesses, and ventured into live plant and outdoor seat cushion businesses. Central Garden acquired C&S Products in May 2019, which has been complementing its existing wild bird feed business. This buyout has been boosting the company’s top line. Prior to this, it acquired the remaining 55% stake in Arden Companies in February 2019. The company bought Bell Nursery, a leading grower and distributor of live flowers and plants, in March 2018. It also acquired General Pet Supply, a supplier of pet food and supplies, last April.



Clearly, the company has been strengthening its position in the pet supplies, and lawn and garden supplies space. Moreover, it has been developing new products, advancing digital capabilities, optimizing supply chain and focusing on marketing activities. Impressively, these endeavors aided the company to deliver stellar performance in fourth-quarter fiscal 2020. The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) firm’s shares have gained 22.8% over the past year, outperforming the industry’s 1.8% dip.

Solid Consumer Discretionary Bets

Reynolds Consumer Products (REYN - Free Report) has a trailing four-quarter earnings average of 5.7% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Party City Holdco , also a Zacks Rank #2 stock, delivered an earnings surprise of 121.7% in the last reported quarter.

Spectrum Brands (SPB - Free Report) has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 18.3% and currently holds a Zacks Rank #2.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>

Published in