Head to Head Comparison: Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) & Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT)

Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) and Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

16.1% of Central Garden & Pet shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.6% of Church & Dwight shares are held by institutional investors. 8.2% of Central Garden & Pet shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Church & Dwight shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Central Garden & Pet and Church & Dwight, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Central Garden & Pet	0	2	1	1	2.75
Church & Dwight	1	8	8	0	2.41

Central Garden & Pet currently has a consensus price target of $54.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.23%. Church & Dwight has a consensus price target of $105.06, suggesting a potential upside of 0.10%. Given Central Garden & Pet’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Central Garden & Pet is more favorable than Church & Dwight.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Central Garden & Pet and Church & Dwight”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Central Garden & Pet	$3.08 billion	0.91	$162.84 million	$2.68	16.76
Church & Dwight	$6.23 billion	4.00	$736.80 million	$3.11	33.75

Church & Dwight has higher revenue and earnings than Central Garden & Pet. Central Garden & Pet is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Church & Dwight, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Central Garden & Pet and Church & Dwight’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Central Garden & Pet	5.39%	11.13%	4.93%
Church & Dwight	11.96%	20.10%	9.31%

Risk and Volatility

Central Garden & Pet has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Church & Dwight has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Church & Dwight beats Central Garden & Pet on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Central Garden & Pet

Central Garden & Pet Co. engages in the production and distribution of branded and private label products for the lawn, garden, and pet supplies markets. It operates through the Pet and Garden segments. The Pet segment focuses on dog and cat supplies such as dog treats and chews, toys, pet beds and containment, grooming products, waste management and training pads, supplies for aquatics, small animals, reptiles and pet birds including toys, cages and habitats, bedding, food and supplements, products for equine and livestock, animal and household health and insect control products, live fish, and small animals, as well as outdoor cushions. The Garden segment includes lawn and garden consumables such as grass, vegetable, flower and herb seed, wild bird feed, bird houses and other birding accessories, weed, grass, and other herbicides, insecticide and pesticide products, fertilizers, and live plants. The company was founded by William E. Brown in 1980 and is headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA.

About Church & Dwight

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, Specialty Products Division (SPD), and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements. The Consumer International segment is involved in the personal care, household and over-the-counter products in international subsidiary markets, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, China, and the United Kingdom. The SPD segment consists of sales to businesses and participates in three product areas namely, animal nutrition, specialty chemicals, and commercial and professional. The Corporate segment includes equity in earnings of affiliates. The company was founded by Dwight John and Austin Church in 1846 and is headquartered in Ewing, NJ.