WCN vs CLH Stock Comparison

Waste Connections and Clean Harbors Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
WCN Waste Connections, Inc.
$186.62 +19.9% 1M +5.5% 1Y
Market cap
$46.13B
P/E
37.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.94B
Div. yield
–
Solid Waste Industrials
4 wins
CLH Clean Harbors Inc
$316.96 +1.2% 1M +29.2% 1Y
Market cap
$16.49B
P/E
37.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.24B
Div. yield
–
Hazardous Waste Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

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

QuestionWCNCLHLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $46.13B $16.49B WCN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 37.2x 37.6x WCN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 34.6x 30.8x CLH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.3% +5.1% WCN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 7.0% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 9.7% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.9x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +5.5% +29.2% CLH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +7.3%/yr +23.2%/yr CLH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.7% 27.9% WCN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 48/100 70/100 CLH

Percentile Scorecard

WCNCLH

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

AxisWCNCLH
Valuation 27 #12 of 16 60 #7 of 16
Growth 77 #4 of 14 62 #6 of 14
Profitability 69 #5 of 14 85 #3 of 14
Financial Health 20 #13 of 16 73 #5 of 16
Shareholder Returns – –
Overall 48 70
  • WCN ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management
  • CLH ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodWCNCLHSPY
1 month +19.9%+1.2% -0.8%
3 months +10.2%+5.1% +3.5%
6 months +15.5%+3.1% +7.0%
Year to date +6.4%+35.2% +12.2%
1 year +5.5%+29.2% +13.0%
3 years +45.8%+109.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +13.4%+28.1% +23.1%
5 years +42.4%+183.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year +7.3%+23.2% +11.0%
10 years +271.8%+588.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year +14.0%+21.3% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureWCNCLHSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.7%27.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 23.3%31.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.180.27 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.221.05 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -25.5%-30.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-3.1% -1.8%
52-week high $186.62$327.10 $779.14
52-week low $149.02$201.73 $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.

MultipleWCNCLH
P/E now vs peer median 37.2xmedian 34.0x 38.1xmedian 34.0x
P/S now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 3.4x 2.7xmedian 3.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 15.3x 15.8xmedian 15.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 31.8xmedian 18.5x 36.2xmedian 18.5x
P/B now vs peer median 6.0xmedian 3.0x 5.7xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median —median 3.42 10.72median 3.42

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 monthsWCNCLH
Revenue $9.94B $6.24B
Gross profit – $2.01B
Operating income $1.76B $739.29M
Net income $1.13B $439.05M
Free cash flow – $461.72M
EPS (diluted) – $8.29
Cash & equivalents $95.69M $408.36M
Total debt – $2.77B
Shares (diluted) 253.86M 52.96M
Enterprise value $46.13B $13.50B

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
MetricWCNCLH
P/E 37.2x 38.1x
P/FCF 31.8x 36.2x
P/Operating cash flow 18.6x 18.5x
P/S 4.7x 2.7x
P/B 6.0x 5.7x
P/Tangible book 8.0x 7.7x
EV/EBITDA – 15.8x
EV/EBIT – 25.7x
EV/Revenue 4.7x 3.0x
EV/FCF – 41.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.6x 21.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 10.72

Growth

14 metrics
MetricWCNCLH
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.3% 5.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.2% 5.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 10.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 6.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 61.8% 13.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 10.0% 4.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 82.2% 14.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 10.9% 2.6%
EPS growth (1Y) – 15.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 3.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 4.2% 19.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.5% 7.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 20.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 12.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricWCNCLH
Gross margin – 32.3%
EBITDA margin – 19.2%
Operating margin – 11.8%
Pretax margin – 9.6%
Net margin – 7.0%
FCF margin – 7.4%
Operating cash flow margin 25.4% 14.5%
Return on equity 14.3% 15.4%
Return on assets 5.3% 5.7%
Return on invested capital – 9.7%
Return on capital employed – 11.3%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.2x 2.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricWCNCLH
Debt / assets – 35.4%
Debt / equity – 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.9x
Debt / FCF – 6.0x
Liabilities / assets 63.3% 62.6%
Equity / assets 36.7% 37.4%
Interest coverage – –
Current ratio 0.7x 2.1x
Quick ratio – 1.7x
Cash ratio – 0.4x
Altman Z-score – 3.89

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricWCNCLH
Dividend yield 0.8% –
Net buyback yield – 1.4%
Shareholder yield 0.8% 1.4%
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.

ConsensusWCNCLH
Forward P/E 34.6xFY2026 30.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.40FY2026 $10.29FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +5.9%FY2026 +41.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +18.7% +5.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $10.30BFY2026 $6.28BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +10.0%FY2026 +4.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after 0.0% +15.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersWCNCLH
Held by institutions 85.2% 93.5%
Institutions holding 829 658
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.3% 0.0%
Institutions buying 410 306
Institutions selling 303 246
Buyers to sellers 1.35 1.24

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.

WCNCLH
WCN 1.00 0.41
CLH 0.41 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, WCN and CLH?

Waste Connections (WCN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Waste Connections (WCN) $46.13B, Clean Harbors (CLH) $16.49B.

Which stock is cheaper, WCN and CLH?

Waste Connections (WCN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Waste Connections (WCN) 37.2x, Clean Harbors (CLH) 37.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Clean Harbors (CLH) is cheapest (Waste Connections (WCN) 34.6x, Clean Harbors (CLH) 30.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Waste Connections (WCN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Waste Connections (WCN) +6.3%, Clean Harbors (CLH) +5.1%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Clean Harbors (CLH) returned the most: Waste Connections (WCN) +5.5%, Clean Harbors (CLH) +29.2%. Over five years, Clean Harbors (CLH) compounded fastest (Waste Connections (WCN) +7.3%/yr, Clean Harbors (CLH) +23.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Waste Connections (WCN) has been the steadiest (Waste Connections (WCN) 25.7%, Clean Harbors (CLH) 27.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do WCN and CLH move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.41, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, WCN and CLH?

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 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.