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Central Garden & Pet (CENT) Strategies on Track, Up 8.8% YTD

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Central Garden & Pet Company (CENT - Free Report) seems well-poised for growth thanks to its robust business strategies, including the expansion of digital capabilities and prudent buyouts. CENT continues reinforcing its position in the pet supplies and lawn and garden supplies spaces. Management has been developing new products, advancing digital capabilities, optimizing the supply chain and focusing on marketing activities for a while now.

Markedly, shares of the company have risen 8.8% in the year-to-date period, outperforming the industry’s 1.5% gain. The stock has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and a Momentum Score of B. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In addition, analysts are optimistic about the company. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2024 sales and earnings per share is currently pegged at $3.44 billion and $2.82, respectively. These estimates show corresponding increases of 2% and 6.6% year over year.

Let’s Delve Deep

Central Garden & Pet has been a disciplined buyer in the garden and pet areas. Through buyouts, the company looks to augment manufacturing capabilities, create operating synergies or develop a distribution network and enhance key capabilities in digital and e-commerce.

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Some of the notable acquisitions in the recent past include D&D Commodities Ltd. ("D&D"), a leading provider of premium bird food, in June 2021; Green Garden Products, a leading provider of vegetable, herb and flower seed packets, seed starters and plant nutrients, in February 2021; and Hopewell Nursery, a leading live goods grower, in January 2021. In December 2020, the company acquired DoMyOwn, a leading and fast-growing online retailer of professional-grade control products. These buyouts have been supporting the company’s top line.

The acquisition of DoMyOwn.com further advances the company’s digital capabilities to deliver strong omni-channel performance. The company has also partnered with a leading e-commerce platform, Profitero, Inc. During fiscal 2022, the Garden e-commerce business grew 9% and now accounts for mid-single digits of total garden sales. Pet e-commerce business grew 10% and now represents 22% of total Pet sales. In the first quarter of fiscal 2023, e-commerce represented 23% of Pet branded sales, while Garden e-commerce business jumped by double digits.

Unique packaging, point-of-sale displays, logistic capabilities and a high level of customer service are some of Central Garden & Pet’s key catalysts. The company is also making meaningful progress on its Central-to-home strategy.

Impressively, Central Garden & Pet foresees earnings growth in the second half of fiscal 2023. For the remainder year, management envisions a typical garden season. It anticipates inventory dynamics to stabilize and expects pricing actions and cost containment efforts to largely mitigate the impact of inflation. To gain market share, the company seeks to develop differentiated products, improve sales capacity, respond to channel shifts and become more cost-effective. The company is also investing in capacity expansion and automation to meet the demand.

Further, the company remains optimistic about gains from the acquisitions. Also, Central Garden & Pet is making efforts to lower costs to improve margins and fuel growth.

Overall, Central Garden & Pet looks well poised for future growth on the aforementioned tailwinds.

Solid Consumer Discretionary Bets

Here we have highlighted three top-ranked stocks, namely, Ralph Lauren (RL - Free Report) , Oxford Industries (OXM - Free Report) and Deckers (DECK - Free Report) .

Ralph Lauren, a footwear and accessories dealer, sports a Zacks Rank #1 at present. RL has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 23.6%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ralph Lauren’s current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 5.5% and 14%, respectively, from the year-ago corresponding figures.

Oxford Industries designs, sources, markets and distributes lifestyle products. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Oxford Industries has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 18.9%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for OXM’s current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 13.7% and 10.4%, respectively, from the year-ago reported numbers.

Deckers, a footwear dealer, has a Zacks Rank #2 at present. DECK has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 31%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Deckers’ current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 11% and 17.1%, respectively, from the year-ago corresponding figures.

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