CVS HEALTH Corp vs THE SHERWIN-WILLIAMS COMPANY, two Retail stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
CVS combines drugstores with health insurance, a $133.5B enterprise where recent charges pushed net margin to 0.24% and return on equity to 1.26%. Sherwin-Williams sells paint and coatings, a $85.4B name keeping 10.86% of sales, orders of magnitude more per dollar. Both carry real debt, CVS at 0.78 and Sherwin far higher at 2.64. Yet CVS generates the stronger free cash yield, 5.54% against 3.4%, and pays a bigger dividend, 2.55% to 0.92%. Sherwin trades at 33.05 times earnings; CVS's profit is too compressed to frame that way. Cash still flows through the pharmacy giant even as the income statement barely holds positive.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | CVS | SHW |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $104.17 | $334.01 |
| Market cap | $133.2B | $82.9B |
| Sector | Retail | Retail |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | — | +10.9% |
| P/E | — | 32.1 |
| P/B | 1.72 | 18.70 |
| P/S | 0.33 | 3.46 |
| EV/EBITDA | 17.5 | 263.0 |
| Revenue growth | +7.6% | +4.1% |
| Gross margin | — | 49.1% |
| Operating margin | 4.7% | — |
| Net margin | 0.2% | 10.9% |
| Return on equity | 1.3% | 58.7% |
| Return on assets | 0.4% | 9.8% |
| Return on invested capital | 3.2% | — |
| FCF yield | 5.5% | 3.5% |
| Dividend yield | 2.5% | 0.9% |
| Debt / equity | 0.78 | 2.64 |
| Current ratio | 0.87 | 0.86 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 2.42 | 6.93 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 5 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.