GFL vs CWST vs WCN Stock Comparison

GFL Environmental, Casella Waste Systems and Waste Connections Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GFL GFL Environmental Inc.
$43.57 +5.1% 1M -3.4% 1Y
Market cap
$16.16B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
0.18%
Solid Waste Industrials
3 wins
WCN Waste Connections, Inc.
$179.76 +15.1% 1M +3.2% 1Y
Market cap
$45.33B
P/E
37.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.94B
Div. yield
0.78%
Solid Waste Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Waste Connections leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Waste Connections 7, GFL Environmental 3, Casella Waste Systems 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGFLCWSTWCNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $16.16B $5.55B $45.33B WCN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -71.8x 987.3x 37.2x WCN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 70.3x 68.6x 33.3x WCN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +13.6% +6.3% CWST
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 0.3% — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.7% 1.5% — GFL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.1x 3.4x — GFL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.18% — 0.78% WCN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -3.4% +0.7% +3.2% WCN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.2%/yr +0.4%/yr +5.7%/yr WCN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.2% 37.5% 25.8% WCN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 49/100 46/100 GFL

Percentile Scorecard

GFLCWSTWCN

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

AxisGFLCWSTWCN
Valuation 87 #3 of 16 47 #9 of 16 27 #12 of 16
Growth 15 #12 of 14 54 #7 of 14 69 #5 of 14
Profitability 39 #9 of 14 62 #6 of 14 69 #5 of 14
Financial Health 87 #3 of 16 33 #11 of 16 20 #13 of 16
Shareholder Returns – – –
Overall 57 49 46
  • GFL ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management
  • CWST ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management
  • 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

PeriodGFLCWSTWCNSPY
1 month +5.1%+8.5%+15.1% +0.9%
3 months +8.2%-2.2%+4.0% +5.9%
6 months +8.0%+13.3%+9.8% +8.5%
Year to date +1.4%-9.6%+2.5% +13.3%
1 year -3.4%+0.7%+3.2% +12.4%
3 years +54.5%+20.4%+40.4% +88.1%
3 years, per year +15.6%+6.4%+12.0% +23.5%
5 years +5.9%+2.1%+32.2% +68.2%
5 years, per year +1.2%+0.4%+5.7% +11.0%
10 years —+707.8%+258.6% +263.4%
10 years, per year —+23.2%+13.6% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureGFLCWSTWCNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.2%37.5%25.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.4%34.9%23.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.240.09-0.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.120.020.13 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.9%-37.7%-25.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.3%-17.5%-3.7% -0.9%
52-week high $46.51$107.34$186.62 $779.14
52-week low $33.54$74.97$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.

MultipleGFLCWSTWCN
P/E now vs peer median -71.8xmedian 31.3x 987.3xmedian 31.3x 37.2xmedian 31.3x
P/S now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 3.1x 2.8xmedian 3.1x 4.6xmedian 3.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 14.3x 17.5xmedian 14.3x —median 14.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 5.6xmedian 16.9x 52.5xmedian 16.9x 31.8xmedian 16.9x
P/B now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 2.7x 3.5xmedian 2.7x 5.7xmedian 2.7x
PEG now vs peer median 1.01median 2.37 -19.39median 2.37 —median 2.37

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 monthsGFLCWSTWCN
Revenue – $1.96B $9.94B
Gross profit – $653.52M –
Operating income $1.72B $66.07M $1.76B
Net income -$385.60M $5.70M $1.13B
Free cash flow $2.88B $105.67M –
EPS (diluted) $-0.59 $0.09 –
Cash & equivalents $296.50M $25.54M $95.69M
Total debt $14.20M $1.36B –
Shares (diluted) 378.69M 63.69M 253.86M
Enterprise value $14.35B $4.67B $45.33B

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
MetricGFLCWSTWCN
P/E -71.8x 987.3x 37.2x
P/FCF 5.6x 52.5x 31.8x
P/Operating cash flow 9.4x 15.8x 17.9x
P/S 2.3x 2.8x 4.6x
P/B 1.4x 3.5x 5.7x
P/Tangible book 1.7x 4.5x 7.7x
EV/EBITDA 4.9x 17.5x –
EV/EBIT 9.2x 104.2x –
EV/Revenue – 3.5x 4.6x
EV/FCF 5.5x 65.2x –
EV/Operating cash flow 9.3x 19.6x 17.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.01 -19.39 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGFLCWSTWCN
Revenue growth (1Y) – 13.6% 6.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 20.4% 8.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 12.6% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 20.0% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -0.2% 1.1% 61.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -7.1% -8.5% 10.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -110.8% -48.4% 82.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -45.6% -47.8% 10.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -106.3% -48.5% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) -70.7% -50.9% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 25.2% 2.9% 4.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -1.6% 19.0% 6.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 11.5% 16.1% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.2% 8.9% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGFLCWSTWCN
Gross margin – 33.4% –
EBITDA margin – 20.1% –
Operating margin – 3.4% –
Pretax margin – 0.5% –
Net margin – 0.3% –
FCF margin – 5.4% –
Operating cash flow margin – 18.0% 25.4%
Return on equity -4.0% 0.4% 14.3%
Return on assets -1.5% 0.2% 5.3%
Return on invested capital 9.7% 1.5% –
Return on capital employed 7.6% 2.1% –
Asset turnover – 0.6x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -4.4x 61.6x 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.7% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGFLCWSTWCN
Debt / assets 0.0% 38.3% –
Debt / equity 0.0x 0.9x –
Net debt / EBITDA -0.1x 3.4x –
Debt / FCF 0.0x 12.9x –
Liabilities / assets 59.0% 55.6% 63.3%
Equity / assets 41.0% 44.4% 36.7%
Interest coverage 2.8x 1.0x –
Current ratio 0.9x 1.0x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.8x –
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x –
Altman Z-score – 2.24 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGFLCWSTWCN
Dividend yield 0.2% – 0.8%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 0.2% – 0.8%
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.

ConsensusGFLCWSTWCN
Forward P/E 70.3xFY2026 68.6xFY2026 33.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.62FY2026 $1.29FY2026 $5.40FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +12.7%FY2026 +1.6%FY2026 +5.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +27.4% +16.3% +18.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.10BFY2026 $2.05BFY2026 $10.30BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +26.5%FY2026 +11.6%FY2026 +10.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +22.3% +7.1% 0.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGFLCWSTWCN
Held by institutions 74.8% 100.0% 85.2%
Institutions holding 323 415 829
Change in shares held, QoQ +10.3% +4.2% +1.3%
Institutions buying 185 231 410
Institutions selling 101 127 303
Buyers to sellers 1.83 1.82 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.

GFLCWSTWCN
GFL 1.00 0.40 0.48
CWST 0.40 1.00 0.54
WCN 0.48 0.54 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GFL, CWST and WCN?

Waste Connections (WCN) is the largest by market capitalisation: GFL Environmental (GFL) $16.16B, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) $5.55B, Waste Connections (WCN) $45.33B.

Which stock is cheaper, GFL, CWST and WCN?

Waste Connections (WCN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (GFL Environmental (GFL) -71.8x, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) 987.3x, Waste Connections (WCN) 37.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Waste Connections (WCN) is cheapest (GFL Environmental (GFL) 70.3x, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) 68.6x, Waste Connections (WCN) 33.3x). 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%, Waste Connections (WCN) +6.3%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Waste Connections (WCN) returned the most: GFL Environmental (GFL) -3.4%, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) +0.7%, Waste Connections (WCN) +3.2%. Over five years, Waste Connections (WCN) compounded fastest (GFL Environmental (GFL) +1.2%/yr, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) +0.4%/yr, Waste Connections (WCN) +5.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Waste Connections (WCN) has the highest dividend yield: GFL Environmental (GFL) 0.18%, Waste Connections (WCN) 0.78%. Casella Waste Systems (CWST) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Waste Connections (WCN) has been the steadiest (GFL Environmental (GFL) 29.2%, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) 37.5%, Waste Connections (WCN) 25.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GFL, CWST 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, Waste Connections (WCN) leads on 7. 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.