CWST vs CLH vs GFL Stock Comparison

Casella Waste Systems, Clean Harbors and GFL Environmental Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CLH Clean Harbors Inc
$313.03 0.0% 1M +29.2% 1Y
Market cap
$16.80B
P/E
38.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.24B
Div. yield
–
Hazardous Waste Industrials
10 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Clean Harbors leads on 10 of the 12 questions below (Clean Harbors 10, Casella Waste Systems 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCWSTCLHGFLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.77B $16.80B $16.41B CLH
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 1,011x 38.3x -327.5x CLH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 72.6x 30.4x 72.6x CLH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +13.6% +5.1% +9.7% CWST
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.3% 7.0% -0.7% CLH
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.5% 9.7% 7.6% CLH
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.4x 1.9x 3.0x CLH
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +5.5% +29.2% -0.8% CLH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +2.4%/yr +22.8%/yr +2.0%/yr CLH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 37.0% 27.9% 29.1% CLH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 47/100 66/100 46/100 CLH

Percentile Scorecard

CWSTCLHGFL

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

AxisCWSTCLHGFL
Valuation 40 #10 of 16 53 #8 of 16 73 #5 of 16
Growth 39 #9 of 14 54 #7 of 14 23 #11 of 14
Profitability 62 #6 of 14 85 #3 of 14 54 #7 of 14
Financial Health 47 #9 of 16 73 #5 of 16 33 #11 of 16
Shareholder Returns – – –
Overall 47 66 46
  • CWST ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management
  • CLH ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management
  • GFL ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCWSTCLHGFLSPY
1 month +13.9%0.0%+6.5% -0.2%
3 months +2.9%+3.0%+14.9% +3.9%
6 months +20.5%+2.2%+12.1% +8.2%
Year to date -4.3%+33.5%+4.7% +12.9%
1 year +5.5%+29.2%-0.8% +12.3%
3 years +27.5%+107.3%+59.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year +8.4%+27.5%+16.9% +23.3%
5 years +12.7%+178.6%+10.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year +2.4%+22.8%+2.0% +10.9%
10 years +755.8%+582.7%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +24.0%+21.2%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCWSTCLHGFLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 37.0%27.9%29.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 34.0%31.0%28.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.090.260.25 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.151.05-0.03 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -37.7%-30.9%-42.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -12.7%-4.3%-3.3% -1.2%
52-week high $107.34$327.10$46.51 $779.14
52-week low $74.97$201.73$33.54 $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.

MultipleCWSTCLHGFL
P/E now vs peer median 1,045xmedian 33.2x 37.6xmedian 33.2x -331.9xmedian 33.2x
P/S now vs peer median 3.0xmedian 3.3x 2.6xmedian 3.3x 2.4xmedian 3.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.3xmedian 14.5x 15.6xmedian 14.5x 8.4xmedian 14.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 55.6xmedian 16.4x 35.8xmedian 16.4x 6.1xmedian 16.4x
P/B now vs peer median 3.7xmedian 3.0x 5.6xmedian 3.0x 2.2xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median -20.53median 2.81 10.58median 2.81 -11.97median 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 monthsCWSTCLHGFL
Revenue $1.96B $6.24B $7.00B
Gross profit $653.52M $2.01B $1.47B
Operating income $66.07M $739.29M $1.71B
Net income $5.70M $439.05M -$249.50M
Free cash flow $105.67M $461.72M $2.72B
EPS (diluted) $0.09 $8.29 $-0.13
Cash & equivalents $25.54M $408.36M $192.10M
Total debt $1.36B $2.77B $19.12B
Shares (diluted) 63.69M 52.96M 378.69M
Enterprise value $4.89B $13.81B $14.52B

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
MetricCWSTCLHGFL
P/E 1,045x 37.6x -331.9x
P/FCF 55.6x 35.8x 6.1x
P/Operating cash flow 16.7x 18.3x 11.1x
P/S 3.0x 2.6x 2.4x
P/B 3.7x 5.6x 2.2x
P/Tangible book 4.7x 7.6x 3.1x
EV/EBITDA 18.3x 15.6x 8.4x
EV/EBIT 109.1x 25.4x 15.3x
EV/Revenue 3.7x 3.0x 3.7x
EV/FCF 68.2x 40.7x 9.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.5x 20.8x 17.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -20.53 10.58 -11.97

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCWSTCLHGFL
Revenue growth (1Y) 13.6% 5.1% 9.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 20.4% 5.3% -1.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 12.6% 10.2% 16.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 20.0% 6.5% 12.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 1.1% 13.5% 1.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -8.5% 4.5% -3.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -48.4% 14.1% -107.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -47.8% 2.6% 8.6%
EPS growth (1Y) -48.5% 15.9% -101.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -50.9% 3.6% 27.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 2.9% 19.9% 13.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.0% 7.3% -8.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.1% 20.0% 7.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 12.0% -2.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCWSTCLHGFL
Gross margin 33.4% 32.3% 20.9%
EBITDA margin 20.1% 19.2% 44.5%
Operating margin 3.4% 11.8% 24.4%
Pretax margin 0.5% 9.6% -3.8%
Net margin 0.3% 7.0% -0.7%
FCF margin 5.4% 7.4% 38.9%
Operating cash flow margin 18.0% 14.5% 21.6%
Return on equity 0.4% 15.4% -3.3%
Return on assets 0.2% 5.7% -1.2%
Return on invested capital 1.5% 9.7% 7.6%
Return on capital employed 2.1% 11.3% 8.9%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.8x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 61.6x 2.1x -6.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 0.7% 2.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCWSTCLHGFL
Debt / assets 38.3% 35.4% 44.6%
Debt / equity 0.9x 0.9x 1.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.4x 1.9x 3.0x
Debt / FCF 12.9x 6.0x 3.5x
Liabilities / assets 55.6% 62.6% 65.0%
Equity / assets 44.4% 37.4% 35.0%
Interest coverage 1.0x – 3.0x
Current ratio 1.0x 2.1x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.7x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.4x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 2.34 3.86 1.26

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCWSTCLHGFL
Dividend yield – – 0.2%
Net buyback yield – 1.4% –
Shareholder yield – 1.4% 0.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusCWSTCLHGFL
Forward P/E 72.6xFY2026 30.4xFY2026 72.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.29FY2026 $10.29FY2026 $0.62FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.6%FY2026 +41.3%FY2026 +12.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +16.3% +5.3% +27.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.05BFY2026 $6.28BFY2026 $6.10BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +11.6%FY2026 +4.1%FY2026 +26.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.1% +15.7% +22.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCWSTCLHGFL
Held by institutions 100.0% 93.5% 74.8%
Institutions holding 415 658 323
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.2% 0.0% +10.3%
Institutions buying 231 306 185
Institutions selling 127 246 101
Buyers to sellers 1.82 1.24 1.83

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.

CWSTCLHGFL
CWST 1.00 0.32 0.39
CLH 0.32 1.00 0.32
GFL 0.39 0.32 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CWST, CLH and GFL?

Clean Harbors (CLH) is the largest by market capitalisation: Casella Waste Systems (CWST) $5.77B, Clean Harbors (CLH) $16.80B, GFL Environmental (GFL) $16.41B.

Which stock is cheaper, CWST, CLH and GFL?

Clean Harbors (CLH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Casella Waste Systems (CWST) 1,011x, Clean Harbors (CLH) 38.3x, GFL Environmental (GFL) -327.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Clean Harbors (CLH) is cheapest (Casella Waste Systems (CWST) 72.6x, Clean Harbors (CLH) 30.4x, GFL Environmental (GFL) 72.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Casella Waste Systems (CWST) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Casella Waste Systems (CWST) +13.6%, Clean Harbors (CLH) +5.1%, GFL Environmental (GFL) +9.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Clean Harbors (CLH) has the highest net margin (Casella Waste Systems (CWST) 0.3%, Clean Harbors (CLH) 7.0%, GFL Environmental (GFL) -0.7%). On return on invested capital, Clean Harbors (CLH) leads (Casella Waste Systems (CWST) 1.5%, Clean Harbors (CLH) 9.7%, GFL Environmental (GFL) 7.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Clean Harbors (CLH) returned the most: Casella Waste Systems (CWST) +5.5%, Clean Harbors (CLH) +29.2%, GFL Environmental (GFL) -0.8%. Over five years, Clean Harbors (CLH) compounded fastest (Casella Waste Systems (CWST) +2.4%/yr, Clean Harbors (CLH) +22.8%/yr, GFL Environmental (GFL) +2.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Clean Harbors (CLH) has been the steadiest (Casella Waste Systems (CWST) 37.0%, Clean Harbors (CLH) 27.9%, GFL Environmental (GFL) 29.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CWST, CLH and GFL?

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 10. 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.