CAT vs OSK vs WCN Stock Comparison

Caterpillar, Oshkosh and Waste Connections Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CAT Caterpillar Inc
$713.64 -13.1% 1M +35.4% 1Y
Market cap
$329.76B
P/E
30.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$74.73B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
6 wins
OSK Oshkosh Corp
$134.20 +1.0% 1M -3.6% 1Y
Market cap
$8.59B
P/E
15.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.61B
Div. yield
–
Heavy Equipment Industrials
4 wins
WCN Waste Connections, Inc.
$181.92 +16.8% 1M +4.1% 1Y
Market cap
$45.75B
P/E
37.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.94B
Div. yield
–
Solid Waste Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Caterpillar leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Caterpillar 6, Oshkosh 4, Waste Connections 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCATOSKWCNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $329.76B $8.59B $45.75B CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 30.4x 15.4x 37.2x OSK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 27.7x 13.4x 33.7x OSK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.4% +2.2% +6.3% CAT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.5% 5.2% — CAT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% 11.4% — CAT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 0.7x — OSK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +35.4% -3.6% +4.1% CAT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +28.5%/yr +4.5%/yr +6.5%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.5% 40.4% 25.8% WCN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 72/100 46/100 OSK

Percentile Scorecard

CATOSKWCN

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCATOSKWCN
Valuation 21 #160 of 203 95 #12 of 203 27 #12 of 16
Growth 67 #63 of 188 59 #78 of 188 69 #5 of 14
Profitability 92 #15 of 183 63 #69 of 183 69 #5 of 14
Financial Health 17 #180 of 217 52 #105 of 217 20 #13 of 16
Shareholder Returns 56 #68 of 153 91 #15 of 153 –
Overall 51 72 46
  • CAT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • OSK ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WCN ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCATOSKWCNSPY
1 month -13.1%+1.0%+16.8% -0.2%
3 months -15.2%-11.9%+7.5% +3.9%
6 months -12.7%-10.3%+11.2% +8.2%
Year to date +24.6%+6.8%+3.7% +12.9%
1 year +35.4%-3.6%+4.1% +12.3%
3 years +199.1%+55.5%+42.1% +87.4%
3 years, per year +44.1%+15.9%+12.4% +23.3%
5 years +249.7%+24.4%+37.0% +67.9%
5 years, per year +28.5%+4.5%+6.5% +10.9%
10 years +759.7%+155.2%+268.8% +261.1%
10 years, per year +24.0%+9.8%+13.9% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCATOSKWCNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.5%40.4%25.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.9%40.5%23.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.851.40-0.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.87-0.090.16 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.5%-43.5%-25.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -33.0%-24.6%-2.5% -1.2%
52-week high $1,064.90$177.94$186.62 $779.14
52-week low $524.47$118.59$149.02 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCATOSKWCN
P/E now vs peer median 30.3xmedian 25.2x 15.1xmedian 25.2x 37.2xmedian 33.2x
P/S now vs peer median 4.4xmedian 1.9x 0.8xmedian 1.9x 4.6xmedian 3.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.7xmedian 14.0x 8.7xmedian 14.0x —median 14.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 36.5xmedian 21.7x 7.4xmedian 21.7x 31.8xmedian 16.4x
P/B now vs peer median 16.9xmedian 2.3x 1.8xmedian 2.3x 5.8xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median 2.32median 1.32 1.18median 1.32 —median 2.81

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCATOSKWCN
Revenue $74.73B $10.61B $9.94B
Gross profit $25.66B $1.69B –
Operating income $13.09B $797.60M $1.76B
Net income $10.84B $556.30M $1.13B
Free cash flow $8.99B $1.12B –
R&D $2.27B – –
EPS (diluted) $23.45 $8.87 –
Cash & equivalents $6.71B $403.60M $95.69M
Total debt $45.15B $1.10B –
Shares (diluted) 462.50M 62.75M 253.86M
Enterprise value $301.46B $7.24B $45.75B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCATOSKWCN
P/E 30.3x 15.1x 37.2x
P/FCF 36.5x 7.4x 31.8x
P/Operating cash flow 24.2x 6.4x 18.1x
P/S 4.4x 0.8x 4.6x
P/B 16.9x 1.8x 5.8x
P/Tangible book 17.3x 2.2x 7.8x
EV/EBITDA 23.7x 8.7x –
EV/EBIT 28.0x 11.3x –
EV/Revenue 4.9x 0.8x 4.6x
EV/FCF 40.7x 8.0x –
EV/Operating cash flow 27.0x 6.9x 18.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.32 1.18 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATOSKWCN
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.4% 2.2% 6.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 5.8% 8.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% -10.2% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% 7.4% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.7% -16.7% 61.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 8.2% 10.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 14.9% -14.5% 82.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 11.1% 10.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 17.1% -11.7% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 12.8% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.3% 60.6% 4.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.6% 57.0% 6.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.2% 99.4% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 49.8% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATOSKWCN
Gross margin 34.3% 15.9% –
EBITDA margin 20.7% 9.8% –
Operating margin 17.5% 7.5% –
Pretax margin 18.6% 6.5% –
Net margin 14.5% 5.2% –
FCF margin 12.0% 10.6% –
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 12.3% 25.4%
Return on equity 57.0% 12.4% 14.3%
Return on assets 10.9% 5.6% 5.3%
Return on invested capital 15.9% 11.4% –
Return on capital employed 22.1% 11.5% –
Asset turnover 0.8x 1.1x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 2.3x 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.4% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATOSKWCN
Debt / assets 44.0% 11.0% –
Debt / equity 2.3x 0.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 0.7x –
Debt / FCF 5.0x 1.0x –
Liabilities / assets 81.1% 55.0% 63.3%
Equity / assets 18.9% 45.0% 36.7%
Interest coverage 6.8x 6.6x –
Current ratio 1.4x 1.7x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.7x –
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.1x –
Altman Z-score 4.64 3.18 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATOSKWCN
Dividend yield 0.9% 1.7% 0.8%
Net buyback yield 2.2% 4.2% –
Shareholder yield 3.1% 5.8% 0.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 25.9% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 31.3% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 4.2% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.1% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCATOSKWCN
Forward P/E 27.7xFY2026 13.4xFY2026 33.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $25.79FY2026 $10.00FY2026 $5.40FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.3%FY2026 -7.3%FY2026 +5.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +31.4% +46.4% +18.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $84.12BFY2026 $10.70BFY2026 $10.30BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.5%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026 +10.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% +5.3% 0.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATOSKWCN
Held by institutions 72.3% 100.0% 85.2%
Institutions holding 4,057 598 829
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% +5.1% +1.3%
Institutions buying 1,888 309 410
Institutions selling 1,595 188 303
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.64 1.35

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CATOSKWCN
CAT 1.00 0.53 -0.21
OSK 0.53 1.00 0.09
WCN -0.21 0.09 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT, OSK and WCN?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $329.76B, Oshkosh (OSK) $8.59B, Waste Connections (WCN) $45.75B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT, OSK and WCN?

Oshkosh (OSK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 30.4x, Oshkosh (OSK) 15.4x, Waste Connections (WCN) 37.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Oshkosh (OSK) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 27.7x, Oshkosh (OSK) 13.4x, Waste Connections (WCN) 33.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Caterpillar (CAT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Caterpillar (CAT) +18.4%, Oshkosh (OSK) +2.2%, Waste Connections (WCN) +6.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Caterpillar (CAT) has the highest net margin (Caterpillar (CAT) 14.5%, Oshkosh (OSK) 5.2%). On return on invested capital, Caterpillar (CAT) leads (Caterpillar (CAT) 15.9%, Oshkosh (OSK) 11.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Caterpillar (CAT) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) +35.4%, Oshkosh (OSK) -3.6%, Waste Connections (WCN) +4.1%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +28.5%/yr, Oshkosh (OSK) +4.5%/yr, Waste Connections (WCN) +6.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Caterpillar (CAT) 0.01%, Oshkosh (OSK) 0.00%, Waste Connections (WCN) 0.00%. Oshkosh (OSK) and Waste Connections (WCN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Waste Connections (WCN) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 40.5%, Oshkosh (OSK) 40.4%, Waste Connections (WCN) 25.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAT, OSK and WCN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Caterpillar (CAT) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.