CLH vs IRM vs PESI Stock Comparison

Clean Harbors, Iron Mountain and Perma Fix Environmental Services Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CLH Clean Harbors Inc
$318.70 +1.8% 1M +30.8% 1Y
Market cap
$16.76B
P/E
38.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.24B
Div. yield
–
Hazardous Waste Industrials
8 wins
IRM Iron Mountain Inc
$109.94 -4.5% 1M +5.8% 1Y
Market cap
$33.63B
P/E
80.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.56B
Div. yield
0.03%
Facility Services Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Clean Harbors leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Clean Harbors 8, Iron Mountain 2, Perma Fix Environmental Services 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCLHIRMPESILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $16.76B $33.63B $245.62M IRM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 38.2x 80.3x -11.6x CLH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 31.1x 47.4x — CLH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.1% +17.4% -4.7% IRM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 7.0% 5.5% -37.0% CLH
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.7% 7.6% — CLH
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 6.7x 1.9x PESI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.03% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +30.8% +5.8% -13.2% CLH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +22.7%/yr +19.1%/yr +11.4%/yr CLH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.9% 33.1% 63.3% CLH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 47/100 35/100 CLH

Percentile Scorecard

CLHIRMPESI

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

AxisCLHIRMPESI
Valuation 60 #7 of 16 21 #89 of 112 20 #13 of 16
Growth 54 #7 of 14 91 #10 of 96 8 #13 of 14
Profitability 77 #4 of 14 66 #32 of 93 23 #11 of 14
Financial Health 80 #4 of 16 7 #117 of 126 93 #2 of 16
Shareholder Returns 57 #4 of 8 52 #33 of 67 29 #6 of 8
Overall 66 47 35
  • CLH ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management
  • IRM ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • PESI ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCLHIRMPESISPY
1 month +1.8%-4.5%-23.2% -1.0%
3 months +4.9%-14.4%-24.1% +2.9%
6 months +3.1%-5.2%-4.4% +6.4%
Year to date +35.9%+32.5%-3.7% +11.4%
1 year +30.8%+5.8%-13.2% +13.1%
3 years +105.0%+84.3%+35.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year +27.1%+22.6%+10.7% +21.5%
5 years +177.7%+139.0%+71.3% +67.7%
5 years, per year +22.7%+19.1%+11.4% +10.9%
10 years +603.7%+223.6%+154.3% +255.2%
10 years, per year +21.5%+12.5%+9.8% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCLHIRMPESISPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.9%33.1%63.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 31.1%34.4%61.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.261.151.98 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.110.17-0.21 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -30.9%-40.0%-58.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.6%-17.4%-37.6% -2.5%
52-week high $327.10$133.06$19.43 $779.14
52-week low $201.73$78.86$8.61 $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.

MultipleCLHIRMPESI
P/E now vs peer median 38.3xmedian 33.8x 78.2xmedian 21.0x -11.4xmedian 33.8x
P/S now vs peer median 2.7xmedian 3.4x 4.3xmedian 0.9x 4.5xmedian 3.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.9xmedian 15.8x 19.6xmedian 12.3x -13.1xmedian 15.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 36.4xmedian 18.4x -66.7xmedian 15.1x -11.9xmedian 18.4x
P/B now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 3.1x -25.5xmedian 2.4x 4.4xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median 10.77median 4.14 29.92median 1.02 0.08median 4.14

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 monthsCLHIRMPESI
Revenue $6.24B $7.56B $57.18M
Gross profit $2.01B $4.10B -$1.62M
Operating income $739.29M $1.42B -$19.10M
Net income $439.05M $434.46M -$21.18M
Free cash flow $461.72M -$490.92M -$21.67M
R&D – – $1.15M
EPS (diluted) $8.29 $1.40 $-1.07
Cash & equivalents $408.36M $204.79M $33.95M
Total debt $2.77B $17.35B $1.98M
Shares (diluted) 52.96M 299.85M 19.84M
Enterprise value $13.77B $32.82B $137.18M

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
MetricCLHIRMPESI
P/E 38.3x 78.2x -11.4x
P/FCF 36.4x -66.7x -11.9x
P/Operating cash flow 18.6x 19.8x -16.0x
P/S 2.7x 4.3x 4.5x
P/B 5.7x -25.5x 4.4x
P/Tangible book 7.7x -13.0x 5.4x
EV/EBITDA 15.9x 19.6x -13.1x
EV/EBIT 25.8x 35.2x -11.8x
EV/Revenue 3.1x 6.6x 3.9x
EV/FCF 41.3x -101.6x -10.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.1x 30.1x -14.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 10.77 29.92 0.08

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCLHIRMPESI
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.1% 17.4% -4.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.3% 13.0% -10.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.2% 13.5% -139.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.5% 11.1% -28.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.5% 35.4% -49.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 4.5% 12.8% -100.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 14.1% 867.3% -12.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 2.6% 4.1% -180.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 15.9% 897.5% -5.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 3.6% 2.6% -148.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.9% 31.7% -27.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.3% 17.2% -61.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 20.0% 50.3% -28.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.0% -60.8% -78.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCLHIRMPESI
Gross margin 32.3% 54.2% -2.8%
EBITDA margin 19.2% 33.6% -30.0%
Operating margin 11.8% 18.8% -33.4%
Pretax margin 9.6% 6.7% -31.9%
Net margin 7.0% 5.5% -37.0%
FCF margin 7.4% -6.5% -37.9%
Operating cash flow margin 14.5% 21.9% -28.1%
Return on equity 15.4% – -41.8%
Return on assets 5.7% 2.0% -23.1%
Return on invested capital 9.7% 7.6% –
Return on capital employed 11.3% 7.5% -29.7%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.3x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.1x 3.8x 0.8x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 1.8% 1.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCLHIRMPESI
Debt / assets 35.4% 79.0% 1.9%
Debt / equity 0.9x -13.5x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 6.7x 1.9x
Debt / FCF 6.0x -35.3x -0.1x
Liabilities / assets 62.6% 105.8% 42.7%
Equity / assets 37.4% -5.8% 57.3%
Interest coverage – – -90.1x
Current ratio 2.1x 0.7x 1.7x
Quick ratio 1.7x 0.6x 2.0x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x 1.2x
Altman Z-score 3.90 1.72 2.00

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCLHIRMPESI
Dividend yield – 3.1% –
Net buyback yield 1.4% – -8.4%
Shareholder yield 1.4% 3.1% -8.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 229.5% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – -203.1% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 16.5% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 11.1% –

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.

ConsensusCLHIRMPESI
Forward P/E 31.1xFY2026 47.4xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $10.26FY2026 $2.32FY2026 $-0.99FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +40.9%FY2026 +9.4%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +4.8% +28.0% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.27BFY2026 $8.36BFY2026 $58.80MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.0%FY2026 +21.1%FY2026 -4.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +15.5% +2.2% +67.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCLHIRMPESI
Held by institutions 93.5% 86.2% 44.7%
Institutions holding 658 1,161 90
Change in shares held, QoQ 0.0% +1.9% +25.1%
Institutions buying 306 598 50
Institutions selling 246 377 17
Buyers to sellers 1.24 1.59 2.94

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.

CLHIRMPESI
CLH 1.00 0.19 0.09
IRM 0.19 1.00 0.27
PESI 0.09 0.27 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CLH, IRM and PESI?

Iron Mountain (IRM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Clean Harbors (CLH) $16.76B, Iron Mountain (IRM) $33.63B, Perma Fix Environmental Services (PESI) $245.62M.

Which stock is cheaper, CLH, IRM and PESI?

Clean Harbors (CLH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Clean Harbors (CLH) 38.2x, Iron Mountain (IRM) 80.3x, Perma Fix Environmental Services (PESI) -11.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Clean Harbors (CLH) is cheapest (Clean Harbors (CLH) 31.1x, Iron Mountain (IRM) 47.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Iron Mountain (IRM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Clean Harbors (CLH) +5.1%, Iron Mountain (IRM) +17.4%, Perma Fix Environmental Services (PESI) -4.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Clean Harbors (CLH) has the highest net margin (Clean Harbors (CLH) 7.0%, Iron Mountain (IRM) 5.5%, Perma Fix Environmental Services (PESI) -37.0%). On return on invested capital, Clean Harbors (CLH) leads (Clean Harbors (CLH) 9.7%, Iron Mountain (IRM) 7.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Clean Harbors (CLH) returned the most: Clean Harbors (CLH) +30.8%, Iron Mountain (IRM) +5.8%, Perma Fix Environmental Services (PESI) -13.2%. Over five years, Clean Harbors (CLH) compounded fastest (Clean Harbors (CLH) +22.7%/yr, Iron Mountain (IRM) +19.1%/yr, Perma Fix Environmental Services (PESI) +11.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Clean Harbors (CLH) 0.00%, Iron Mountain (IRM) 0.03%, Perma Fix Environmental Services (PESI) 0.00%. Clean Harbors (CLH) and Perma Fix Environmental Services (PESI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Clean Harbors (CLH) has been the steadiest (Clean Harbors (CLH) 27.9%, Iron Mountain (IRM) 33.1%, Perma Fix Environmental Services (PESI) 63.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CLH, IRM and PESI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Clean Harbors (CLH) leads on 8. 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.