CATO
The Cato CorporationConsumer Cyclical·Apparel - Retail
$3.24
$58M market cap
Revenue
$151.7M
Free Cash Flow
$-5.6M
Rev Growth
+0.0%
FCF Margin
-3.7%
P/FCF
--
EV/FCF
--
Fwd EV/EBITDA
--
Fair Value
--
Upside
--
The Cato Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of fashion apparel and accessories primarily in the southeastern United States. It operates through two segments, Retail and Credit. The company's stores and e-commerce websites offer a range of apparel and accessories, including dressy, career, and casual sportswear; and dresses, coats, shoes, lingerie, costume jewelry, and handbags, as well as men's wear, and lines for kids and infants. It operates its store
2-Year Price History
$3.28-42.4%
Quarterly Financials & Projections
Quarterly Waterfall ($ M)
| Period | Rev | EBITDA | OpIn | NI | OCF | FCF | CapEx | Cash | Debt | Shares | ROIC | IntCov | EV/EBITDA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Act | 2025-Q4 | 151.7 | -11.4 | -13.8 | -10.9 | -4.7 | -5.6 | -0.9 | 76.3 | 150.5 | 19.8 | -12.7% | -- | -- |
Valuation & Metrics
Market Stats
Price$3.24
Market Cap$58M
Enterprise Value$132M
P/S Ratio0.4x
P/FCF--
EV/FCF--
FCF Margin (TTM)-3.7%
FCF Yield-9.6%
Dividend Yield (TTM)21.0%
Annual Dilution0.0%
CurrencyUSD
TTM Financial Snapshot
Revenue$151.7M
Net Income$-10.9M
Free Cash Flow$-5.6M
Revenue Growth (YoY)+0.0%
EBITDA Margin-7.5%
Net Margin-7.2%
FCF Margin-3.7%
CapEx % of Revenue0.6%
SBC % of Revenue0.0%
ROIC-12.7%
WC Change % Rev0.0%
Interest Coverage--
Forward Outlook & Risk
Short Interest
Short % of Float--
Short Shares0.4M
Days to Cover11.4
Change (vs Prior)+5.4%
Need at least 2 settlement dates for chart
Employees
Headcount7,000
Revenue / Employee$21,666
Gross Profit / Employee$6,137
Institutional Ownership
Headline & net flow
NEUTRAL
Net flow · —still filing
No float data — flow unavailable.
Ownership composition
Active
18.3%(-3.6% YoY)
34 filers
hedge / family / endowment
Retail funds
—
Fidelity, Schwab, 401(k)
Passive
9.5%(-3.4% YoY)
8 filers
Vanguard, iShares, SPDR
Market makers
0.2%(+0.2% YoY)
2 filers
Citadel, Susquehanna
Insiders
—
Form 4 — latest per insider
ActiveRetail fundsPassiveMarket makersRetail direct
Top holders
| Fund | $ value | Cost basis | Δ QoQ | Δ YoY | α life | Fund AUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aldebaran Capital, LLC | $3.3M | $6.50 | +$380K | +$332K | -0.7% | $131M |
| Peapod Lane Capital LLC | $2.2M | $3.73 | +$199K | +$310K | -0.7% | $122M |
| VANGUARD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLCPassive | $2.0M | $2.83 | +$2.0M | +$2.0M | — | $4.04T |
| DIMENSIONAL FUND ADVISORS LPPassive | $1.7M | $8.54 | −$310K | −$650K | -0.4% | $480.92B |
| RENAISSANCE TECHNOLOGIES LLC | $1.6M | $6.27 | +$50K | −$34K | +1.2% | $63.91B |
| BlackRock, Inc.Passive | $1.1M | $4.97 | +$9K | −$9K | -0.2% | $5.69T |
| ARROWSTREET CAPITAL, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP | $835K | $6.21 | +$0 | +$0 | +0.1% | $184.72B |
| PRESCOTT GROUP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.L.C. | $636K | $3.47 | +$0 | +$166K | -0.2% | $993M |
| GEODE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLCPassive | $437K | $6.04 | −$21K | −$64K | +2.3% | $1.61T |
| BRIDGEWAY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC | $415K | $5.76 | +$0 | +$47K | -2.3% | $4.93B |
| RBF Capital, LLC | $346K | $5.21 | −$190K | −$228K | +0.1% | $2.03B |
| YACKTMAN ASSET MANAGEMENT LP | $298K | $9.32 | +$0 | +$0 | +0.7% | $7.38B |
| VANGUARD FIDUCIARY TRUST COPassive | $233K | $2.83 | +$233K | +$233K | — | $395.83B |
| STATE STREET CORPPassive | $202K | $6.35 | +$0 | +$0 | -0.2% | $2.89T |
| UBS Group AG | $200K | $3.52 | +$182K | +$44K | -0.3% | $562.11B |
| TWO SIGMA INVESTMENTS, LP | $198K | $6.92 | +$76K | +$22K | -0.9% | $117.03B |
| GSA CAPITAL PARTNERS LLP | $145K | $6.42 | −$5K | −$112K | -5.9% | $1.61B |
| Empowered Funds, LLC | $141K | $6.26 | +$0 | −$2K | +0.2% | $15.64B |
| Squarepoint Ops LLC | $136K | $5.12 | +$32K | +$136K | +0.4% | $46.27B |
| MILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT LLC | $135K | $6.92 | −$71K | −$190K | -0.5% | $127.40B |
Cost basis is a volume-weighted estimate from accumulation periods within our 13F history; holders who built their position before our window started will show a stale basis. % above the cost basis is the unrealized gain at the current price.
Trading behavior
Smart-money alpha (lifetime, %/qtr)NEUTRAL
Holders
-0.61%
avg per quarter
Holders (ex-self)
-0.35%
excl. this stock
Buyers (this Q)
-0.66%
13 buyers · $0.00B in
Sellers (this Q)
-0.28%
12 sellers · $0.00B out
alpha coverage: 87% of $ has a lifetime-alpha record
Holder behavior on this stocksource: stock
On big dips (−10%+)
-20.0%
how holders react when this stock falls
On quiet Qs
-1.7%
−10% to +10% baseline
On rallies (+10%+)
-3.0%
how they react when this stock rises
Holders' portfolio flow this Q
+3.4%
inflows — adds are organic
Sellers' portfolio flow this Q
-0.5%
Sellers' overall flow ~ flat.
▸ Compare to holder-profile behavior (across all their stocks)
Holder dip (any stock)
-1.9%
Holder mid (any stock)
-3.9%
Holder rally (any stock)
-5.9%
Biggest decreases this quarter
DIMENSIONAL FUND ADVISORS LP−$310Kα-0.4CITADEL ADVISORS LLC−$302Kα-0.4RBF Capital, LLC−$190Kα+0.1MILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT LLC−$71Kα-0.5GEODE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC−$21Kα+2.3ADVISOR GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.exited−$11KFounders Capital Managementexited−$9KGSA CAPITAL PARTNERS LLP−$5Kα-5.9BANK OF AMERICA CORP /DE/exited−$3KWELLS FARGO & COMPANY/MNexited−$0
New buyers this quarter
Top-5 holders · 62.5%
Aldebaran Capital, LLC--
Peapod Lane Capital LLC--
VANGUARD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC--
DIMENSIONAL FUND ADVISORS LP--
RENAISSANCE TECHNOLOGIES LLC--
Top Holders Over Time
5-year share-count history (top 10 holders by peak, incl. exited) + price
hover the chart for per-quarter detailprice (right axis)
RENAISSANCE TECHNOLOGIES LLC548KInvesco Ltd.—GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC26KHOTCHKIS & WILEY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC—MILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT LLC48KAldebaran Capital, LLC1.2MBank of New York Mellon Corp—ARROWSTREET CAPITAL, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP295KBRIDGEWAY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC146KAcuitas Investments, LLC—
Corporate
Order Flow (FINRA, ~3w lag)
30.8%retail-10.6pp
16.0%dark+3.0pp
week of 2026-04-13
Off-exchange volume from FINRA. Retail = non-ATS (wholesaler PFOF + broker internalization). Dark = ATS (dark-pool crossing networks, institutional). Lit-exchange = remainder.
Filing Risk Analysis
Filing Risk Scores
CATO CORPORATION: Tax-Adjusted Recovery Masking Underlying Liquidity Stress
Overall Risk
6/10
Fraud
2/10
Dilution
3/10
Insolvency
5/10
Earnings Overstated
6/10
Hidden Liabilities
4/10
Legal
3/10
Audit Warnings
2/10
Hidden Upside
4/10
Contextually Acceptable
7/10