Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. CENTA scored 51.3, HSY scored 60.7 — HSY leads.
Compare another set
CENTA
Central Garden & Pet Company
Packaged Foods · Quality-Growth
51.3
$35.00 · $2.2B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
9.4
HSY leads
HSY
The Hershey Company
Confectioners · Quality-Growth
60.7
$162.74 · $32.7B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestCENTA13.0x
Fastest growthHSY+4.4%
Strongest balance sheetCENTA0.81
Highest qualityHSY82 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueCENTA-70%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
CENTA
stronger →← stronger
HSY
60
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
82
30
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
66
74
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
41
HSY is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
CENTA
HSY
$346mC
FCF
$2.2bB
-2.2%D+
Rev
+4.4%C+
0.81B
D/E
1.30C+
13.0xA-
P/E
22.2xB
1.87C+
PEG
0.82B+
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
CENTA
HSY
70% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
9% below
~-23%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~4%/yr
+242%
1-yr DCF upside
+5%
+238%
5-yr DCF upside
+10%
+231%
10-yr DCF upside
+18%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
CENTA
Why this score
Buying back stock
HSY
No notable signals flagged.
The companies
CENTACentral Garden & Pet Company
Packaged Foods · $35.00 · beta 0.59
Why now
Packaged Foods · market cap $2.2b. 14% off the 52-week high of $40.80. 4 sell-side analysts publish a mean 1-yr target of $46.25 (implying +32% upside).
Moat
Free cash flow runs well ahead of reported net income.
Risk
Value re-rating depends on a catalyst. Without one — analyst day, divestiture, margin recovery, capital return — the stock can stay cheap on these multiples for years.
HSYThe Hershey Company
Confectioners · $162.74 · beta 0.09
Why now
Confectioners · market cap $32.7b. Down 32% from 52-week high of $239.48 — deep drawdown territory. PEG 0.82 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 21 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $202.19 (implying +24% upside).
Moat
Net margin 12% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 33% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. FCF converts 150% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Down 32% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where CENTA and HSY diverge
On the headline score the gap is 9.4 points in favor of HSY. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
GrowthCENTA 30.3 · HSY 65.9HSY +35.6
ValueCENTA 74.5 · HSY 41.2CENTA +33.3
QualityCENTA 60.0 · HSY 82.4HSY +22.4
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is HSY or CENTA the better stock?
HSY scores higher: HSY 60.7, CENTA 51.3 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do HSY and CENTA differ most?
The widest gap is growth, where HSY leads by 36 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. Neither name sweeps: they trade the lead across the three pillars, so the comparison is a trade-off rather than one being better on every measure.
How are HSY and CENTA scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.