Kohl's (KSS) Competitors

Kohl's (NYSE:KSS) and Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and profitability.

Does the media favor KSS or COST?

In the previous week, Costco Wholesale had 105 more articles in the media than Kohl's. MarketBeat recorded 117 mentions for Costco Wholesale and 12 mentions for Kohl's. Costco Wholesale's average media sentiment score of 1.21 beat Kohl's' score of 0.55 indicating that Costco Wholesale is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Kohl's	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Costco Wholesale	80 Very Positive mention(s)	17 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer KSS or COST?

Kohl's presently has a consensus price target of $9.89, suggesting a potential downside of 13.18%. Costco Wholesale has a consensus price target of $1,037.48, suggesting a potential upside of 8.59%. Given Costco Wholesale's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Costco Wholesale is more favorable than Kohl's.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kohl's	7 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.53
Costco Wholesale	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	19 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.68

Is KSS or COST a better dividend stock?

Kohl's pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Costco Wholesale pays an annual dividend of $5.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Kohl's pays out 45.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Costco Wholesale pays out 29.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Costco Wholesale has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in KSS or COST?

98.0% of Kohl's shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.5% of Costco Wholesale shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Kohl's shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Costco Wholesale shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, KSS or COST?

Costco Wholesale has higher revenue and earnings than Kohl's. Kohl's is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Costco Wholesale, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kohl's	$16.07B	0.08	$109M	$1.09	10.45
Costco Wholesale	$268.78B	1.58	$7.37B	$17.63	54.19

Which has more volatility & risk, KSS or COST?

Kohl's has a beta of 1.72, suggesting that its share price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Costco Wholesale has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is KSS or COST more profitable?

Costco Wholesale has a net margin of 2.92% compared to Kohl's' net margin of 0.75%. Costco Wholesale's return on equity of 30.48% beat Kohl's' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kohl's	0.75%	4.71%	1.27%
Costco Wholesale	2.92%	30.48%	10.52%

Summary

Costco Wholesale beats Kohl's on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.