Cato Corp key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2026, Cato Corp had return on equity of -3.7%, an operating margin of -1.9% and a current ratio of 1.24. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Cato Corp: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2010Jan 2010	2011Jan 2011	2012Jan 2012	2013Feb 2013	2014Feb 2014	2015Jan 2015	2016Jan 2016	2017Jan 2017	2018Feb 2018	2019Feb 2019	2020Feb 2020	2021Jan 2021	2022Jan 2022	2023Jan 2023	2024Feb 2024	2025Feb 2025	2026Jan 2026	LTMAug 2026
Gross margin	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	37.1%	34.9%	37.0%	38.3%	24.7%	41.1%	32.9%	34.4%	32.8%	34.0%	33.6%
Operating margin	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.9%	4.0%	5.2%	−12.7%	5.1%	−0.5%	−2.5%	−4.1%	−1.9%	−2.1%
Net margin	5.1%	6.4%	7.0%	6.5%	5.9%	6.1%	6.6%	4.9%	1.0%	3.7%	4.3%	−8.3%	4.8%	0.0%	−3.4%	−2.8%	−0.9%	−0.9%
Free-cash-flow margin	8.5%	6.5%	4.9%	3.6%	6.7%	9.0%	6.7%	4.7%	2.9%	6.7%	5.5%	−7.8%	7.2%	−0.8%	−1.7%	−4.3%	−0.8%	0.3%
Return on equity	15.1%	18.6%	18.5%	17.3%	14.8%	15.7%	16.9%	11.9%	2.4%	9.5%	11.3%	−16.9%	14.7%	0.0%	−11.4%	−10.2%	−3.7%	−3.4%
Return on assets	—	11.0%	12.0%	11.4%	9.6%	10.0%	10.7%	7.6%	1.5%	6.0%	6.1%	−7.4%	6.0%	0.0%	−4.6%	−3.8%	−1.4%	−1.3%
Asset turnover	—	1.74	1.72	1.74	1.63	1.64	1.62	1.53	1.51	1.64	1.40	0.90	1.26	1.28	1.36	1.38	1.50	1.52
Current ratio	—	2.45	2.73	2.44	2.52	2.34	2.63	2.58	2.68	2.63	1.82	1.60	1.46	1.37	1.29	1.19	1.24	1.36
Debt to equity	0.0%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	140.1x	—	—	n/m	—	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m	—
Effective tax rate	32.8%	36.6%	35.3%	37.7%	35.6%	33.9%	32.6%	3.9%	46.5%	7.8%	16.9%	—	5.4%	98.4%	—	—	—	—
SG&A as % of revenue	27.8%	27.1%	25.7%	25.9%	26.7%	28.0%	27.3%	30.3%	31.3%	31.6%	32.0%	35.9%	34.7%	31.9%	35.7%	35.6%	34.6%	34.4%
Capital spending as % of revenue	1.1%	2.1%	3.9%	4.8%	3.4%	2.9%	2.6%	2.9%	1.3%	0.5%	1.0%	2.4%	0.5%	2.6%	1.8%	1.2%	0.6%	0.6%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	166.1%	101.8%	70.1%	55.4%	113.1%	146.4%	100.7%	95.0%	291.5%	183.5%	125.6%	—	151.1%	<−999%	—	—	—	—
Dividends ÷ net income	43.3%	36.1%	39.7%	141.4%	10.8%	56.0%	50.2%	75.0%	395.0%	106.9%	90.8%	—	27.1%	>999%	—	—	—	—
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	26.1%	45.2%	79.9%	256.6%	20.0%	85.8%	59.0%	174.0%	291.7%	82.2%	93.6%	—	57.5%	—	—	—	—	26.0%

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Cato Corp: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2025 Q3Nov 2024	2025 Q4Feb 2025	2026 Q1May 2025	2026 Q2Aug 2025	2026 Q3Nov 2025	2026 Q4Jan 2026	2027 Q1May 2026	2027 Q2Aug 2026
Gross margin	29.6%	29.2%	35.8%	36.8%	32.7%	29.9%	37.9%	33.4%
Operating margin	−11.6%	−9.4%	2.0%	3.1%	−5.3%	−8.9%	5.2%	−0.4%
Net margin	−10.3%	−8.9%	1.9%	3.9%	−3.3%	−7.2%	5.4%	0.7%
Free-cash-flow margin	−16.3%	−5.0%	1.7%	5.9%	−8.3%	−3.7%	4.1%	7.9%
Current ratio	1.36	1.19	1.24	1.29	1.38	1.24	1.29	1.36
SG&A as % of revenue	39.6%	37.1%	32.5%	32.5%	36.7%	37.4%	31.5%	32.7%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

1 of 1 checks passed · August 1, 2026

What it owns · $423m

Short-term assets $208mLonger-term assets $215m

What it owes, and who funded it · $321m

Short-term liabilities $153mShareholders' equity $168m

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $208m of assets due within a year against $153m of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
More cash than debt Cash or debt not separately reported. Not assessable.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Equity or debt not reported. Not assessable.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Five-year comparison not available. Not assessable.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt Cash flow or debt not reported. Not assessable.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Interest not separately reported. Not assessable.

From Cato Corp's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

45 /100

Moderate moat

How hard Cato's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 2 / 20

Cash operating profit has been a median 3.2% of total assets over 10 years.
Pricing power 12 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 34.3%, moving by 2.3 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
Durability 10 / 20

Operating margin has been a median -1.3%; its worst year was -6.9%.
Cash conversion 6 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 6 of 10 years, at a median 0.2% of revenue.
Discipline 20 / 20

The diluted share count fell 13.4% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.5% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (50 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

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Figures from Cato Corp's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 29, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Cato Corp.