CLH vs WM vs SHC Stock Comparison

Clean Harbors, Waste Management and Sotera Health Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CLH Clean Harbors Inc
$318.70 +1.8% 1M +30.8% 1Y
Market cap
$16.74B
P/E
38.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.24B
Div. yield
–
Hazardous Waste Industrials
4 wins
WM Waste Management Inc
$239.38 +15.1% 1M +10.8% 1Y
Market cap
$96.86B
P/E
34.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$25.67B
Div. yield
0.01%
Solid Waste Industrials
3 wins
SHC Sotera Health Co
$18.10 -1.0% 1M +7.1% 1Y
Market cap
$5.26B
P/E
32.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.22B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Sotera Health leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Sotera Health 4, Clean Harbors 4, Waste Management 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCLHWMSHCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $16.74B $96.86B $5.26B WM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 38.1x 34.0x 32.2x SHC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 31.1x 27.7x 19.7x SHC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.1% +7.2% +8.1% SHC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 7.0% 11.1% 13.4% SHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.7% 10.7% 9.1% WM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 3.0x 3.3x CLH
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +30.8% +10.8% +7.1% CLH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +22.7%/yr +7.8%/yr -7.0%/yr CLH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.9% 21.3% 28.4% WM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 54/100 58/100 CLH

Percentile Scorecard

CLHWMSHC

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

AxisCLHWMSHC
Valuation 60 #7 of 16 47 #9 of 16 50 #47 of 93
Growth 54 #7 of 14 77 #4 of 14 67 #30 of 88
Profitability 77 #4 of 14 92 #2 of 14 80 #18 of 87
Financial Health 80 #4 of 16 13 #14 of 16 35 #65 of 100
Shareholder Returns 57 #4 of 8 43 #5 of 8 –
Overall 66 54 58
  • CLH ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management
  • WM ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management
  • SHC ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCLHWMSHCSPY
1 month +1.8%+15.1%-1.0% -1.0%
3 months +4.9%+0.2%+4.3% +2.9%
6 months +3.1%+4.3%+16.2% +6.4%
Year to date +35.9%+9.0%+2.6% +11.4%
1 year +30.8%+10.8%+7.1% +13.1%
3 years +105.0%+54.8%+39.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year +27.1%+15.7%+11.6% +21.5%
5 years +177.7%+45.6%-30.4% +67.7%
5 years, per year +22.7%+7.8%-7.0% +10.9%
10 years +603.7%+284.8%— +255.2%
10 years, per year +21.5%+14.4%— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCLHWMSHCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.9%21.3%28.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 31.1%20.5%26.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.26-0.420.99 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.110.510.25 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -30.9%-18.7%-78.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.6%-2.9%-7.5% -2.5%
52-week high $327.10$246.51$19.57 $779.14
52-week low $201.73$196.77$13.13 $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.

MultipleCLHWMSHC
P/E now vs peer median 38.3xmedian 33.8x 33.7xmedian 33.8x 31.6xmedian 25.3x
P/S now vs peer median 2.7xmedian 3.4x 3.7xmedian 3.4x 4.2xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.9xmedian 15.8x 15.8xmedian 15.8x 12.8xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 36.4xmedian 18.4x 26.8xmedian 18.4x 45.8xmedian 22.7x
P/B now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 3.1x 9.6xmedian 3.1x 7.8xmedian 3.3x
PEG now vs peer median 10.77median 4.14 4.14median 4.14 0.84median 0.66

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 monthsCLHWMSHC
Revenue $6.24B $25.67B $1.22B
Gross profit $2.01B $10.49B $668.51M
Operating income $739.29M $4.51B $411.34M
Net income $439.05M $2.85B $163.48M
Free cash flow $461.72M $3.57B $112.70M
EPS (diluted) $8.29 $7.09 $0.57
Cash & equivalents $408.36M $557.00M $356.72M
Total debt $2.77B $93.65B $2.14B
Shares (diluted) 52.96M 402.40M 288.15M
Enterprise value $13.75B $95.77B $3.94B

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
MetricCLHWMSHC
P/E 38.3x 33.7x 31.6x
P/FCF 36.4x 26.8x 45.8x
P/Operating cash flow 18.6x 14.7x 17.7x
P/S 2.7x 3.7x 4.2x
P/B 5.7x 9.6x 7.8x
P/Tangible book 7.7x 15.2x 13.1x
EV/EBITDA 15.9x 15.8x 12.8x
EV/EBIT 25.8x 26.3x 16.9x
EV/Revenue 3.1x 4.6x 5.7x
EV/FCF 41.3x 33.2x 61.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.1x 18.2x 23.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 10.77 4.14 0.84

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCLHWMSHC
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.1% 7.2% 8.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.3% 8.6% 7.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.2% -18.6% 7.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.5% 11.8% 8.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.5% 7.3% 21.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 4.5% 9.1% 23.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 14.1% 4.8% 580.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 2.6% 7.7% 37.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 15.9% 5.3% 574.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 3.6% 8.1% 37.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.9% 15.9% 9.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.3% 14.8% 61.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 20.0% 65.2% 0.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.0% 33.4% 32.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCLHWMSHC
Gross margin 32.3% 40.9% 55.0%
EBITDA margin 19.2% 29.3% 44.6%
Operating margin 11.8% 17.6% 33.8%
Pretax margin 9.6% 14.1% 21.7%
Net margin 7.0% 11.1% 13.4%
FCF margin 7.4% 13.9% 9.3%
Operating cash flow margin 14.5% 25.4% 24.0%
Return on equity 15.4% 28.6% 25.4%
Return on assets 5.7% 6.2% 5.0%
Return on invested capital 9.7% 10.7% 9.1%
Return on capital employed 11.3% 11.2% 13.5%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.6x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.1x 2.3x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 0.7% 3.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCLHWMSHC
Debt / assets 35.4% 50.3% 64.7%
Debt / equity 0.9x 2.4x 3.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 3.0x 3.3x
Debt / FCF 6.0x 6.5x 19.0x
Liabilities / assets 62.6% 78.6% 79.9%
Equity / assets 37.4% 21.4% 20.1%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 2.1x 0.9x 2.8x
Quick ratio 1.7x 0.8x 2.4x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x 1.5x
Altman Z-score 3.90 2.97 1.91

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCLHWMSHC
Dividend yield – 1.5% –
Net buyback yield 1.4% 1.0% –
Shareholder yield 1.4% 2.5% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – 50.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 40.0% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 12.4% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 8.9% –

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.

ConsensusCLHWMSHC
Forward P/E 31.1xFY2026 27.7xFY2026 19.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.26FY2026 $8.65FY2026 $0.92FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +40.9%FY2026 +15.3%FY2026 +7.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +4.8% +9.5% +21.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.27BFY2026 $25.84BFY2026 $1.33BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.0%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +15.5% +12.0% -4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCLHWMSHC
Held by institutions 93.5% 82.3% 100.0%
Institutions holding 658 2,348 316
Change in shares held, QoQ 0.0% +0.8% +5.9%
Institutions buying 306 1,094 220
Institutions selling 246 901 64
Buyers to sellers 1.24 1.21 3.44

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.

CLHWMSHC
CLH 1.00 0.30 0.15
WM 0.30 1.00 0.09
SHC 0.15 0.09 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CLH, WM and SHC?

Waste Management (WM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Clean Harbors (CLH) $16.74B, Waste Management (WM) $96.86B, Sotera Health (SHC) $5.26B.

Which stock is cheaper, CLH, WM and SHC?

Sotera Health (SHC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Clean Harbors (CLH) 38.1x, Waste Management (WM) 34.0x, Sotera Health (SHC) 32.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sotera Health (SHC) is cheapest (Clean Harbors (CLH) 31.1x, Waste Management (WM) 27.7x, Sotera Health (SHC) 19.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Sotera Health (SHC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Clean Harbors (CLH) +5.1%, Waste Management (WM) +7.2%, Sotera Health (SHC) +8.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sotera Health (SHC) has the highest net margin (Clean Harbors (CLH) 7.0%, Waste Management (WM) 11.1%, Sotera Health (SHC) 13.4%). On return on invested capital, Waste Management (WM) leads (Clean Harbors (CLH) 9.7%, Waste Management (WM) 10.7%, Sotera Health (SHC) 9.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Clean Harbors (CLH) returned the most: Clean Harbors (CLH) +30.8%, Waste Management (WM) +10.8%, Sotera Health (SHC) +7.1%. Over five years, Clean Harbors (CLH) compounded fastest (Clean Harbors (CLH) +22.7%/yr, Waste Management (WM) +7.8%/yr, Sotera Health (SHC) -7.0%/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%, Waste Management (WM) 0.01%, Sotera Health (SHC) 0.00%. Clean Harbors (CLH) and Sotera Health (SHC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Waste Management (WM) has been the steadiest (Clean Harbors (CLH) 27.9%, Waste Management (WM) 21.3%, Sotera Health (SHC) 28.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CLH, WM and SHC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Sotera Health (SHC) leads on 4. 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.