They operate in the same industry, but Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) and (NYSE: TGT) are vastly different investment choices. Wall Street favors the warehouse retailer right now thanks to a few impressive competitive and financial assets, including its stable growth outlook amid shifting consumer shopping trends.

Yet, Target is on track to boost profit margins beyond Costco's in 2023. It also pays a bigger dividend and is valued at a discount than its larger peer. So let's compare the two retailers to see which one is the better option for your portfolio right now.

Costco comes out well ahead when it comes to its growth trends. That's obvious from comparing the two companies' same-store-sales trends, which were up 4% for Costco last quarter and down 5% in Target's case. The warehouse giant's lead with shoppers is even more obvious when you look at metrics such as customer traffic and renewal rates .

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Source Fool.com