Costco Wholesale Corporation vs United States Natural Gas Fund — how do they compare? Costco Wholesale Corporation trades at $945.65 (market cap $418.79B), while United States Natural Gas Fund trades at $10.24. The key difference: Costco Wholesale Corporation pays a 0.62% dividend while United States Natural Gas Fund pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| COST | UNG | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $418.79B | — |
Sector | Consumer Staples | Commodities - Energy |
52-Week High | $1.09K | $16.90 |
52-Week Low | $849.63 | $9.63 |
Enterprise Value | $406.93B | — |
Dividend Yield | 0.62% | — |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
COST trades at $952.75, up 0.52% today, with a neutral technical signal. The stock shows strong fundamentals, including revenue growth to $275.24B in 2025 and consistent earnings beats, though Q1 2026 missed estimates. Positive sentiment is driven by a 65.52% analyst buy rating and a consensus price target of $1,120. Recent news highlights membership fee hikes and robust March sales, supporting investor confidence.
Outlook remains favorable due to steady growth and high institutional ownership, but risks include elevated valuation (P/E 47.5) and competitive pressures. The stock offers long-term potential if earnings momentum continues, though near-term volatility may persist amid market fluctuations.
UNG, tracking U.S. natural gas futures, trades at $10.24 with a 0.99% daily gain. Technical indicators show a bearish trend with moving averages signaling sell pressure, while oscillators remain neutral. Recent news highlights steady natural gas prices amid weather-driven demand shifts and geopolitical tensions. The fund lacks traditional company fundamentals as it is an ETF, with financial ratios unavailable.
The outlook is cautious due to bearish technicals and volatile commodity exposure. Opportunities exist if natural gas demand surges from weather or LNG exports, but risks include price swings from storage levels and production changes. Investors should weigh this as a speculative play on energy markets.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
The leading warehouse club, Costco has 815 stores worldwide (at the end of fiscal 2021), with most sales derived in the United States (72%) and Canada (14%). It sells memberships that allow customers to shop in its warehouses, which feature low prices on a limited product assortment. Costco mainly caters to individual shoppers, but roughly 20% of paid members carry business memberships. Food and sundries accounted for 40% of fiscal 2021 sales, with non-food merchandise 29%, warehouse ancillary and other businesses (such as fuel and pharmacy) nearly 17%, and fresh food 14%. Costco's warehouses average around 146,000 square feet
Read more on COST →UNG is a commodity ETF that tracks the daily price movements of natural gas futures. It primarily invests in front-month contracts at the Henry Hub, making it a highly volatile tool for short-term trading rather than long-term holding due to contango and roll costs.
Read more on UNG →