Costain Group (COST) Competitors GBX 162.40 -1.20 (-0.73%) As of 08/1/2025 12:42 PM Eastern Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsHeadlinesInsider TradesBuy This Stock COST vs. HSTG, PETS, ELA, BOOT, BIG, BMPI, HAST, BILB, HVT, and BCAPShould you be buying Costain Group stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Costain Group include Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L) (HSTG), Pets at Home Group (PETS), Eland Oil & Gas (ELA), Henry Boot (BOOT), Big Technologies (BIG), BMO Managed Portfolio Trust PLC - Income Shares (BMPI), Henderson Alternative Strategies Trust (HAST), Bilby (BILB), Heavitree Brewery (HVT), and Better Capital PCC Limited 2009 (BCAP.L) (BCAP). These companies are all part of the "retail" industry. Costain Group vs. Its Competitors Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L) Pets at Home Group Eland Oil & Gas Henry Boot Big Technologies BMO Managed Portfolio Trust PLC - Income Shares Henderson Alternative Strategies Trust Bilby Heavitree Brewery Better Capital PCC Limited 2009 (BCAP.L) Costain Group (LON:COST) and Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L) (LON:HSTG) are both small-cap retail companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability. Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in COST or HSTG? 44.7% of Costain Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.4% of Costain Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. Do analysts rate COST or HSTG? Costain Group currently has a consensus target price of GBX 105, suggesting a potential downside of 35.34%. Given Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L)'s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L) is more favorable than Costain Group.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Costain Group 0 Sell rating(s) 1 Hold rating(s) 0 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.00Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L) 0 Sell rating(s) 0 Hold rating(s) 0 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 0.00 Which has preferable valuation and earnings, COST or HSTG? Costain Group has higher revenue and earnings than Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L). Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Costain Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioCostain Group£1.28B0.34£29.90M£11.2014.50Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L)£763.70M0.00N/A£13.10N/A Is COST or HSTG a better dividend stock? Costain Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 1 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L) pays an annual dividend of GBX 10 per share. Costain Group pays out 8.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L) pays out 76.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Costain Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio. Is COST or HSTG more profitable? Costain Group has a net margin of 2.33% compared to Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L)'s net margin of 0.00%. Costain Group's return on equity of 13.56% beat Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L)'s return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Costain Group2.33% 13.56% 5.63% Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L) N/A N/A N/A Does the media favor COST or HSTG? In the previous week, Costain Group had 2 more articles in the media than Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L). MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Costain Group and 0 mentions for Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L). Costain Group's average media sentiment score of 0.41 beat Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L)'s score of 0.00 indicating that Costain Group is being referred to more favorably in the media. Company Overall Sentiment Costain Group Neutral Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L) Neutral SummaryCostain Group beats Hastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L) on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Costain Group News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for COST and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding COST and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of LON and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart COST vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricCostain GroupEngineering & Construction IndustryIndustrials SectorLON ExchangeMarket Cap£434.99M£2.76B£7.60B£3.03BDividend Yield1.17%3.02%4.56%5.02%P/E Ratio14.5031.7025.25176.75Price / Sales0.3472.3398.63264,362.45Price / Cash0.8714.6127.7627.97Price / Book1.932.894.314.53Net Income£29.90M£82.90M£792.92M£5.90B7 Day Performance2.78%-1.24%-1.95%12.58%1 Month Performance14.21%19.99%2.25%6.10%1 Year Performance88.84%54.15%29.27%71.60% Costain Group Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)COSTCostain Group0.9866 of 5 starsGBX 162.40-0.7%GBX 105-35.3%+86.2%£434.99M£1.28B14.503,270HSTGHastings Group Holdings plc (HSTG.L)N/AN/AN/AN/A£1.65B£763.70M19.053,372High Trading VolumePETSPets at Home Group2.4155 of 5 starsGBX 247.60+1.4%GBX 298.33+20.5%-26.9%£1.13B£1.41B15.05210Trending NewsAnalyst ForecastELAEland Oil & GasN/AN/AN/AN/A£357.57M£207.73M5.53260BOOTHenry BootN/AGBX 227+0.4%N/A-0.9%£305.03M£286.51M27.008,400Positive NewsGap DownHigh Trading VolumeBIGBig Technologies1.1354 of 5 starsGBX 93-1.1%GBX 80-14.0%-28.8%£264.16M£53.85M20.8236,200BMPIBMO Managed Portfolio Trust PLC - Income SharesN/AN/AN/AN/A£111.25MN/A637.50N/AHASTHenderson Alternative Strategies TrustN/AN/AN/AN/A£105.21M-£2.14M-31.63N/ABILBBilbyN/AN/AN/AN/A£23.87M£59.05M32.50343Gap UpHVTHeavitree BreweryN/AGBX 215flatN/A-14.3%£7.58M£5.42M4.952,840BCAPBetter Capital PCC Limited 2009 (BCAP.L)N/AN/AN/AN/A£7.06M-£8.42M-7.41N/AGap DownHigh Trading Volume Related Companies and Tools Related Companies HSTG Alternatives PETS Alternatives ELA Alternatives BOOT Alternatives BIG Alternatives BMPI Alternatives HAST Alternatives BILB Alternatives HVT Alternatives BCAP Alternatives Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (LON:COST) was last updated on 8/2/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersElon’s BIGGEST warning yet?Tesla's About to Prove Everyone Wrong... 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