CASY vs. COST: Casey's General Stores vs. Costco Wholesale Stock Comparison

September 27, 2026

How do Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST) stack up? This page sets them side by side across company profile, performance and risk, profitability, growth, financial strength, dividends, and valuation, with selected fundamentals also measured against each stock's industry-group peers.

Company Profile

Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST) both belong to the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry, though CASY is classified under Food Retail while COST falls under Consumer Staples Merchandise Retail.

Company profile comparison for Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST)
Profile Item	CASY	COST
Name	Casey's General Stores, Inc.	Costco Wholesale Corporation
Country/Region	United States	United States
GICS Sector	Consumer Staples	Consumer Staples
GICS Industry Group	Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail	Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail
GICS Industry	Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail	Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail
GICS Sub-Industry	Food Retail	Consumer Staples Merchandise Retail
Market Capitalization	22.12 billion USD	409.03 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	Nasdaq	Nasdaq
Listing Date	October 20, 1983	July 9, 1986
Security Type	Common Stock	Common Stock

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

CASY

COST

GSPC

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Growth of a $10,000 investment over the past five years. Adjusted for dividends and splits.

Trailing Returns

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Trailing total returns for Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

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Calendar-year total returns for Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST)
Metric	CASY	COST
Total Return (1Y)	10.57%	-1.61%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	29.63%	19.79%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	26.59%	15.79%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

CASY

COST

GSPC

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Drawdown from the running peak over the past five years. Each line shows the decline from its prior peak; 0% marks a new high.

Return Distribution

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Distribution of monthly total returns for Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

Risk profile metrics for Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST)
Metric	CASY	COST
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	37.53%	20.11%
Beta (5Y)	0.57	0.88
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-36.13%	-31.40%
Avg. Volume (3M)	498.77K	2.25M

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

CASY and COST are plotted by 1-year volatility (risk) and 1-year return. The dashed Capital Allocation Line runs from the risk-free rate through the shared industry median.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Risk-adjusted metrics for Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST)
Metric	CASY	COST
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	0.16	-0.30
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	0.25	-0.43

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

Costco Wholesale (COST) at 28.40% sits in the top ROE quartile, while Casey's General Stores (CASY) at 19.98% is closer to the peer norm — stronger capital efficiency for COST.

CASY

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

19.98%

Max: 35.20%
Q3: 22.31%
CASY: 19.98%
Median: 15.25%
Q1: 7.33%
Min: 1.04%

COST

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

28.40%

Max: 35.20%
COST: 28.40%
Q3: 22.31%
Median: 15.25%
Q1: 7.33%
Min: 1.04%

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST): A comparison of their ROE against the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group benchmark.

Net Margin (TTM)

Casey's General Stores (CASY) at 4.14% retains a top-quartile share of revenue as profit, ahead of Costco Wholesale (COST) at 3.04%, which keeps about the industry-typical share.

CASY

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

4.14%

Max: 5.59%
CASY: 4.14%
Q3: 3.42%
Median: 2.44%
Q1: 1.67%
Min: 0.08%

COST

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

3.04%

Max: 5.59%
Q3: 3.42%
COST: 3.04%
Median: 2.44%
Q1: 1.67%
Min: 0.08%

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST): A comparison of their net margin against the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group benchmark.

Operating Margin (TTM)

Casey's General Stores (CASY) at 6.50% operates in the top operating margin quartile, ahead of Costco Wholesale (COST) at 3.97%, which runs around its industry’s norm.

CASY

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

6.50%

Max: 7.49%
CASY: 6.50%
Q3: 5.61%
Median: 3.93%
Q1: 1.85%
Min: 0.97%

COST

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

3.97%

Max: 7.49%
Q3: 5.61%
COST: 3.97%
Median: 3.93%
Q1: 1.85%
Min: 0.97%

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST): A comparison of their operating margin against the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group benchmark.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST)
Metric	CASY	COST
ROE (TTM)	19.98%	28.40%
ROA (TTM)	7.91%	8.79%
Net Margin (TTM)	4.14%	3.04%
Operating Margin (TTM)	6.50%	3.97%
Gross Margin (TTM)	23.82%	12.82%

Growth

Revenue Growth

Casey's General Stores (CASY) at 10.16% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while Costco Wholesale (COST) at 8.17% is closer to the peer norm — faster top-line expansion for CASY.

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth

Casey's General Stores (CASY) at 30.87% sits in the top EPS growth quartile, while Costco Wholesale (COST) at 9.96% is closer to the peer norm — faster per-share earnings growth for CASY.

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

Growth Metrics

Growth metrics for Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST)
Metric	CASY	COST
Revenue Growth (YoY)	10.16%	8.17%
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	5.17%	6.64%
EPS Growth (YoY)	30.87%	9.96%
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	17.17%	11.49%

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

Both Casey's General Stores (CASY) at 1.02 and Costco Wholesale (COST) at 1.06 carry current ratio within their industries’ typical mid-ranges, suggesting balanced short-term liquidity relative to peers.

CASY

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

1.02

Max: 2.03
Q3: 1.44
Median: 1.19
CASY: 1.02
Q1: 1.00
Min: 0.68

COST

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

1.06

Max: 2.03
Q3: 1.44
Median: 1.19
COST: 1.06
Q1: 1.00
Min: 0.68

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST): A comparison of their current ratio against the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group benchmark.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

Costco Wholesale (COST) at 0.24 keeps leverage in the lower industry quartile, while Casey's General Stores (CASY) at 0.71 runs a more typical debt-to-equity mix.

CASY

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

0.71

Max: 2.65
Q3: 1.83
Median: 1.26
CASY: 0.71
Q1: 0.63
Min: 0.01

COST

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

0.24

Max: 2.65
Q3: 1.83
Median: 1.26
Q1: 0.63
COST: 0.24
Min: 0.01

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST): A comparison of their debt-to-equity ratio against the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group benchmark.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST)
Metric	CASY	COST
Current Ratio (MRQ)	1.02	1.06
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	0.71	0.24
Net Debt / EBITDA	1.51	-0.89

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

Costco Wholesale (COST) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Casey's General Stores (CASY) reports a yield of 0.39%, ranking against industry peers normally.

CASY

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

0.39%

Max: 2.91%
Q3: 1.87%
CASY: 0.39%
Median: 0.19%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

COST

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

0.00%

Max: 2.91%
Q3: 1.87%
Median: 0.19%
COST: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST): A comparison of their dividend yield against the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group benchmark.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

Both Casey's General Stores (CASY) at 11.37% and Costco Wholesale (COST) at 27.01% keep payout ratio within their industries’ typical mid-ranges — dividend policies that share earnings without consuming too much of them.

CASY

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

11.37%

Max: 59.29%
Q3: 29.94%
Median: 11.72%
CASY: 11.37%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

COST

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

27.01%

Max: 59.29%
Q3: 29.94%
COST: 27.01%
Median: 11.72%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST): A comparison of their payout ratio against the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group benchmark.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST)
Metric	CASY	COST
Dividend Yield (TTM)	0.39%	0.00%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	11.37%	27.01%

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

Casey's General Stores (CASY) at 28.80 is near its industry’s usual P/E ratio, while Costco Wholesale (COST) at 46.37 sits in the richer quartile — COST needs stronger growth or earnings quality to justify the premium.

CASY

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

28.80

Max: 53.40
Q3: 32.58
CASY: 28.80
Median: 20.94
Q1: 15.30
Min: 12.15

COST

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

46.37

Max: 53.40
COST: 46.37
Q3: 32.58
Median: 20.94
Q1: 15.30
Min: 12.15

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST): A comparison of their P/E ratio against the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group benchmark.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

Both look expensive on sales: Casey's General Stores (CASY) at 1.18 sits in the upper P/S ratio quartile, and Costco Wholesale (COST) at 1.35 prices even higher, above its industry range.

CASY

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

1.18

Max: 1.35
CASY: 1.18
Q3: 0.86
Median: 0.48
Q1: 0.23
Min: 0.03

COST

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

1.35

COST: 1.35
Max: 1.35
Q3: 0.86
Median: 0.48
Q1: 0.23
Min: 0.03

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST): A comparison of their P/S ratio against the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group benchmark.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

Casey's General Stores (CASY) at 5.41 sits near its industry’s typical P/B ratio, while Costco Wholesale (COST) at 12.21 prices above its benchmark range — COST looks rich relative to book.

CASY

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

5.41

Max: 11.40
Q3: 6.02
CASY: 5.41
Median: 3.97
Q1: 2.19
Min: 0.98

COST

Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group

12.21

COST: 12.21
Max: 11.40
Q3: 6.02
Median: 3.97
Q1: 2.19
Min: 0.98

Casey's General Stores (CASY) vs. Costco Wholesale (COST): A comparison of their P/B ratio against the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry group benchmark.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for Casey's General Stores (CASY) and Costco Wholesale (COST)
Metric	CASY	COST
P/E Ratio (TTM)	28.80	46.37
P/S Ratio (TTM)	1.18	1.35
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	5.41	12.21
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	2.28%	1.52%