Kohl's (KSS) Competitors

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

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, COST or KSS?

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
Costco Wholesale	$254.45B	1.66	$7.37B	$17.63	54.02
Kohl's	$16.22B	0.12	$109M	$1.85	9.42

Does the media prefer COST or KSS?

In the previous week, Costco Wholesale had 100 more articles in the media than Kohl's. MarketBeat recorded 118 mentions for Costco Wholesale and 18 mentions for Kohl's. Costco Wholesale's average media sentiment score of 1.03 beat Kohl's' score of 0.73 indicating that Costco Wholesale is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Costco Wholesale	76 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	24 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Kohl's	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of COST or KSS?

68.5% of Costco Wholesale shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.0% of Kohl's shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Costco Wholesale shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Kohl's shares are held 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.

Is COST or KSS a better dividend stock?

Costco Wholesale pays an annual dividend of $5.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Kohl's pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Costco Wholesale pays out 29.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kohl's pays out 27.0% 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. Kohl's is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more risk and volatility, COST or KSS?

Costco Wholesale has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kohl's has a beta of 1.74, indicating that its stock price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend COST or KSS?

Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus target price of $1,056.67, suggesting a potential upside of 10.95%. Kohl's has a consensus target price of $12.54, suggesting a potential downside of 28.04%. Given Costco Wholesale's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Costco Wholesale is more favorable than Kohl's.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Costco Wholesale	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63
Kohl's	6 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.69

Is COST or KSS more profitable?

Costco Wholesale has a net margin of 2.92% compared to Kohl's' net margin of 1.31%. Costco Wholesale's return on equity of 30.48% beat Kohl's' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Costco Wholesale	2.92%	30.48%	10.52%
Kohl's	1.31%	4.62%	1.27%

Summary

Costco Wholesale beats Kohl's on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.