Walmart (WMT) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility & risk, COST or WMT?

Costco Wholesale has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Walmart has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in COST or WMT?

68.5% of Costco Wholesale shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.8% of Walmart shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Costco Wholesale shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 45.6% of Walmart shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor COST or WMT?

In the previous week, Walmart had 98 more articles in the media than Costco Wholesale. MarketBeat recorded 228 mentions for Walmart and 130 mentions for Costco Wholesale. Costco Wholesale's average media sentiment score of 1.31 beat Walmart's score of 1.08 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	100 Very Positive mention(s)	13 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Walmart	126 Very Positive mention(s)	28 Positive mention(s)	46 Neutral mention(s)	14 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in COST or WMT?

Costco Wholesale received 292 more outperform votes than Walmart when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 72.02% of users gave Costco Wholesale an outperform vote while only 61.72% of users gave Walmart an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Costco Wholesale	Outperform Votes 1856 72.02%	Underperform Votes 721 27.98%
Walmart	Outperform Votes 1564 61.72%	Underperform Votes 970 38.28%

Is COST or WMT a better dividend stock?

Costco Wholesale pays an annual dividend of $4.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Walmart pays an annual dividend of $0.83 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Costco Wholesale pays out 27.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Walmart pays out 34.1% 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 increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years and Walmart has increased its dividend for 52 consecutive years. Walmart is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is COST or WMT more profitable?

Costco Wholesale has a net margin of 2.93% compared to Walmart's net margin of 2.92%. Costco Wholesale's return on equity of 32.31% beat Walmart's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Costco Wholesale	2.93%	32.31%	10.55%
Walmart	2.92%	21.78%	7.73%

Do analysts recommend COST or WMT?

Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus target price of $1,021.93, indicating a potential downside of 1.19%. Walmart has a consensus target price of $101.87, indicating a potential upside of 4.78%. Given Walmart's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Walmart is more favorable than Costco Wholesale.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Costco Wholesale	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	19 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.70
Walmart	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	28 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.97

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, COST or WMT?

Walmart has higher revenue and earnings than Costco Wholesale. Walmart 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	1.80	$7.37B	$17.03	60.73
Walmart	$648.13B	1.21	$15.51B	$2.44	39.90

Summary

Costco Wholesale beats Walmart on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.