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 superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Does the media refer more to COST or LOW?

In the previous week, Costco Wholesale had 93 more articles in the media than Lowe's Companies. MarketBeat recorded 139 mentions for Costco Wholesale and 46 mentions for Lowe's Companies. Lowe's Companies' average media sentiment score of 1.34 beat Costco Wholesale's score of 1.11 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	83 Very Positive mention(s)	19 Positive mention(s)	27 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Lowe's Companies	38 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation & earnings, 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	1.69	$7.37B	$17.63	54.94
Lowe's Companies	$83.67B	1.60	$6.96B	$12.07	19.75

Which has more risk and volatility, COST or LOW?

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

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership 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 stock will outperform the market over the long term.

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 recommend COST or LOW?

Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus price target of $1,037.48, suggesting a potential upside of 7.12%. Lowe's Companies has a consensus price target of $270.68, suggesting a potential upside of 13.56%. Given Lowe's Companies' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Lowe's Companies is more favorable than Costco Wholesale.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Costco Wholesale	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	19 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.66
Lowe's Companies	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.58

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 2.0%. 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.

Summary

Costco Wholesale beats Lowe's Companies on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.