CWST vs GFL vs RETO Stock Comparison

Casella Waste Systems, GFL Environmental and ReTo Eco-Solutions Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GFL GFL Environmental Inc.
$45.68 +8.1% 1M +0.2% 1Y
Market cap
$16.95B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$7.00B
Div. yield
0.18%
Solid Waste Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

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

QuestionCWSTGFLRETOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $6.02B $16.95B $29.95K GFL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 1,072x -337.0x 0.0x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 74.5x 73.7x — GFL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +13.6% +9.7% — CWST
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.3% -0.7% — CWST
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.5% 7.6% — GFL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.4x 3.0x — GFL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.18% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +8.7% +0.2% -96.0% CWST
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.0%/yr +2.8%/yr -86.6%/yr CWST
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 37.0% 29.1% 354.4% GFL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 41/100 42/100 — GFL

Percentile Scorecard

CWSTGFLRETO

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

AxisCWSTGFLRETO
Valuation 41 #191 of 325 69 #103 of 325 65 #116 of 325
Growth 43 #148 of 257 43 #147 of 257 –
Profitability 53 #116 of 244 52 #118 of 244 –
Financial Health 29 #275 of 384 27 #282 of 384 70 #118 of 384
Shareholder Returns – 21 #123 of 155 –
Overall 41 42 –
  • CWST ranked among 389 companies in Industrials
  • GFL ranked among 389 companies in Industrials
  • RETO ranked among 389 companies in Industrials

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCWSTGFLRETOSPY
1 month +16.9%+8.1%+453.3% -0.8%
3 months +7.7%+17.2%-67.8% +3.5%
6 months +25.3%+15.1%-68.8% +7.0%
Year to date -1.8%+6.4%-89.1% +12.2%
1 year +8.7%+0.2%-96.0% +13.0%
3 years +30.8%+62.0%-99.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +9.4%+17.5%-91.3% +23.1%
5 years +16.0%+14.7%-100.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year +3.0%+2.8%-86.6% +11.0%
10 years +756.3%—— +258.0%
10 years, per year +24.0%—— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCWSTGFLRETOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 37.0%29.1%354.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 34.0%28.1%245.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.100.252.25 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.230.01-0.27 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -37.7%-42.9%-100.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -10.4%-1.8%-95.9% -1.8%
52-week high $107.34$46.51$20.40 $779.14
52-week low $74.97$33.54$0.09 $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.

MultipleCWSTGFLRETO
P/E now vs peer median 1,072xmedian 18.0x -337.0xmedian 18.0x 0.0xmedian 18.0x
P/S now vs peer median 3.1xmedian 1.4x 2.4xmedian 1.4x 0.1xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.7xmedian 11.1x 8.4xmedian 11.1x —median 11.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 57.0xmedian 14.4x 6.2xmedian 14.4x 0.0xmedian 14.4x
P/B now vs peer median 3.8xmedian 1.2x 2.2xmedian 1.2x 0.0xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median -21.06median 0.92 -12.15median 0.92 —median 0.92

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 monthsCWSTGFLRETO
Revenue $1.96B $7.00B –
Gross profit $653.52M $1.47B –
Operating income $66.07M $1.71B –
Net income $5.70M -$249.50M –
Free cash flow $105.67M $2.72B –
EPS (diluted) $0.09 $-0.13 –
Cash & equivalents $25.54M $192.10M $250.01K
Total debt $1.36B $19.12B $13.30M
Shares (diluted) 63.69M 378.69M 5.97K
Enterprise value $5.14B $15.24B -$1.36M

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
MetricCWSTGFLRETO
P/E 1,072x -337.0x 0.0x
P/FCF 57.0x 6.2x 0.0x
P/Operating cash flow 17.2x 11.2x –
P/S 3.1x 2.4x 0.1x
P/B 3.8x 2.2x 0.0x
P/Tangible book 4.9x 3.2x 0.0x
EV/EBITDA 18.7x 8.4x –
EV/EBIT 111.4x 15.4x –
EV/Revenue 3.8x 3.8x –
EV/FCF 69.7x 9.7x –
EV/Operating cash flow 21.0x 17.5x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -21.06 -12.15 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCWSTGFLRETO
Revenue growth (1Y) 13.6% 9.7% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 20.4% -1.8% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 12.6% 16.5% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 20.0% 12.3% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 1.1% 1.4% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -8.5% -3.8% –
Net income growth (1Y) -48.4% -107.0% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) -47.8% 8.6% –
EPS growth (1Y) -48.5% -101.4% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) -50.9% 27.7% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 2.9% 13.9% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.0% -8.3% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.1% 7.7% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.9% -2.6% –

Profitability

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

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCWSTGFLRETO
Debt / assets 38.3% 44.6% 7.0%
Debt / equity 0.9x 1.3x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.4x 3.0x –
Debt / FCF 12.9x 3.5x –
Liabilities / assets 55.6% 65.0% 22.3%
Equity / assets 44.4% 35.0% 77.7%
Interest coverage 1.0x 3.0x –
Current ratio 1.0x 0.8x 0.2x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.6x 24,122x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 2.39 1.27 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCWSTGFLRETO
Dividend yield – 0.2% –
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield – 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.

ConsensusCWSTGFLRETO
Forward P/E 74.5xFY2026 73.7xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $1.29FY2026 $0.62FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +1.6%FY2026 +12.7%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +17.1% +25.8% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.05BFY2026 $6.08BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +11.6%FY2026 +26.1%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +7.1% +22.5% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCWSTGFLRETO
Held by institutions 100.0% 74.8% –
Institutions holding 415 323 –
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.2% +10.3% –
Institutions buying 231 185 –
Institutions selling 127 101 –
Buyers to sellers 1.82 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.

CWSTGFLRETO
CWST 1.00 0.39 0.09
GFL 0.39 1.00 0.12
RETO 0.09 0.12 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CWST, GFL and RETO?

GFL Environmental (GFL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Casella Waste Systems (CWST) $6.02B, GFL Environmental (GFL) $16.95B, ReTo Eco-Solutions (RETO) $29.95K.

Which company is growing faster?

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

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Casella Waste Systems (CWST) returned the most: Casella Waste Systems (CWST) +8.7%, GFL Environmental (GFL) +0.2%, ReTo Eco-Solutions (RETO) -96.0%. Over five years, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) compounded fastest (Casella Waste Systems (CWST) +3.0%/yr, GFL Environmental (GFL) +2.8%/yr, ReTo Eco-Solutions (RETO) -86.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: GFL Environmental (GFL) 0.18%. Casella Waste Systems (CWST) and ReTo Eco-Solutions (RETO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, GFL Environmental (GFL) has been the steadiest (Casella Waste Systems (CWST) 37.0%, GFL Environmental (GFL) 29.1%, ReTo Eco-Solutions (RETO) 354.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, GFL Environmental (GFL) 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.