Cato price to free cash flow CATO

Market value divided by free cash flow over the last twelve months, since 2012.

Today, Oct 23, 2026: 28.6×
10-year median: 9.4×
Against its 10-year history: 83rd; percentile: 0 is its lowest day, 100 its highest
10-year range: 3.8× to 361×
Peer median: 7.2×

Cato's price to free cash flow is 28.6× as of Oct 23, 2026.

That is above its ten-year median of 9.4×, higher than on 83% of days in the last ten years.

Over that time it ranged from 3.8× in Sep 2021 to 361× in Sep 2023.

The median for 8 apparel retail stocks of a similar size is 7.2×.

Price to free cash flow over time

median 9.4×

The dashed line is the 10-year median and the shaded band the middle half of its days.

Open the interactive chart, with overlays and comparisons

Year by year

Year	End of year	Low	High
2026 so far	28.6×	28.6×	32.5×
2025	n/m a value too high to mean anything
2024	n/m a value too high to mean anything
2023	317×	55.9×	361×
2022	39.0×	4.7×	42.4×
2021	5.4×	3.8×	5.6×
2020	5.2×	4.8×	8.7×
2019	8.6×	5.9×	10.9×
2018	7.6×	5.4×	21.7×
2017	7.6×	7.4×	19.8×
2016	14.9×	12.0×	20.3×
2015	18.6×	12.1×	20.1×
2014	15.3×	12.6×	18.1×
2013	17.5×	14.8×	28.0×
2012	19.1×	14.9×	21.2×

Against its peers

Companies in Apparel - Retail nearest Cato's size, closest first, today.

Company	Price to free cash flow
CATOCato	28.6×
TLYSTilly'S	11.2×
DLTHDuluth	2.6×
VNCEVince	8.5×
ZUMZZumiez	8.6×
DBIDesigner Brands	2.7×
CTRNCiti Trends	58.3×
SHOEShoe Station	5.8×
GCOGenesco	5.4×
Peer median	7.2×

What the price to free cash flow tells you

Market value divided by free cash flow: the cash left after running the business and paying for equipment. Cash is harder to manage than accounting earnings, so many investors trust this more than PE.

Lumpy: a big year of building factories drops cash flow and inflates the ratio without the business getting worse.

More on Cato

Valuation data, not investment advice. Prices as of Oct 23, 2026. Reported figures come from the company's filings with the SEC.