Lowe's Companies (LOW) Competitors

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

Does the media prefer COST or LOW?

In the previous week, Costco Wholesale had 83 more articles in the media than Lowe's Companies. MarketBeat recorded 129 mentions for Costco Wholesale and 46 mentions for Lowe's Companies. Lowe's Companies' average media sentiment score of 1.55 beat Costco Wholesale's score of 1.15 indicating that Lowe's Companies is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Costco Wholesale	85 Very Positive mention(s)	15 Positive mention(s)	21 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Lowe's Companies	40 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is COST or LOW a better dividend stock?

Costco Wholesale pays an annual dividend of $5.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Lowe's Companies pays an annual dividend of $4.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Costco Wholesale pays out 29.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lowe's Companies pays out 39.8% 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 and Lowe's Companies has raised its dividend for 53 consecutive years. Lowe's Companies is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is COST or LOW more profitable?

Lowe's Companies has a net margin of 8.22% compared to Costco Wholesale's net margin of 2.92%. Costco Wholesale's return on equity of 30.48% beat Lowe's Companies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Costco Wholesale	2.92%	30.48%	10.52%
Lowe's Companies	8.22%	-49.12%	15.07%

Do analysts rate COST or LOW?

Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus target price of $1,050.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.65%. Lowe's Companies has a consensus target price of $270.68, suggesting a potential upside of 6.91%. Given Costco Wholesale's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Costco Wholesale is more favorable than Lowe's Companies.

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
Lowe's Companies	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.58

Which has more risk & volatility, COST or LOW?

Costco Wholesale has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lowe's Companies has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in COST or LOW?

68.5% of Costco Wholesale shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.1% of Lowe's Companies shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Costco Wholesale shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Lowe's Companies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, COST or LOW?

Costco Wholesale has higher revenue and earnings than Lowe's Companies. Lowe's Companies 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	1.70	$7.37B	$17.63	55.33
Lowe's Companies	$83.67B	1.70	$6.96B	$12.07	20.98

Summary

Costco Wholesale beats Lowe's Companies on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.