WM vs RSG vs WCN Stock Comparison

Waste Management, Republic Services and Waste Connections Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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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
6 wins
RSG Republic Services, Inc.
$240.36 +12.7% 1M +7.7% 1Y
Market cap
$74.26B
P/E
34.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.89B
Div. yield
0.01%
Solid Waste Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

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

QuestionWMRSGWCNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $96.86B $74.26B $47.35B WM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 34.0x 34.0x 44.6x WM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 27.7x 32.3x 34.9x WM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.2% +3.2% +5.7% WM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.1% 12.9% 10.9% RSG
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.7% 11.0% 7.4% RSG
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.0x 2.6x 2.9x RSG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% WM
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +10.8% +7.7% +5.5% WM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +7.8%/yr +12.5%/yr +6.8%/yr RSG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.3% 20.2% 25.7% RSG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 54/100 65/100 57/100 RSG

Percentile Scorecard

WMRSGWCN

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

AxisWMRSGWCN
Valuation 47 #9 of 16 53 #8 of 16 27 #12 of 16
Growth 77 #4 of 14 62 #6 of 14 69 #5 of 14
Profitability 92 #2 of 14 100 #1 of 14 85 #3 of 14
Financial Health 13 #14 of 16 40 #10 of 16 20 #13 of 16
Shareholder Returns 43 #5 of 8 71 #3 of 8 86 #2 of 8
Overall 54 65 57
  • WM ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management
  • RSG 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

PeriodWMRSGWCNSPY
1 month +15.1%+12.7%+20.0% -1.0%
3 months +0.2%+10.8%+10.0% +2.9%
6 months +4.3%+14.6%+12.3% +6.4%
Year to date +9.0%+13.4%+6.4% +11.4%
1 year +10.8%+7.7%+5.5% +13.1%
3 years +54.8%+67.7%+38.8% +79.4%
3 years, per year +15.7%+18.8%+11.6% +21.5%
5 years +45.6%+80.4%+39.0% +67.7%
5 years, per year +7.8%+12.5%+6.8% +10.9%
10 years +284.8%+381.4%+276.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year +14.4%+17.0%+14.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureWMRSGWCNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.3%20.2%25.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.5%18.8%23.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.42-0.42-0.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.510.380.22 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -18.7%-23.4%-25.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.9%-0.6%0.0% -2.5%
52-week high $246.51$241.83$186.57 $779.14
52-week low $196.77$197.73$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.

MultipleWMRSGWCN
P/E now vs peer median 33.7xmedian 33.8x 33.8xmedian 33.8x 44.6xmedian 33.8x
P/S now vs peer median 3.7xmedian 3.4x 4.4xmedian 3.4x 4.8xmedian 3.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.8xmedian 15.8x 16.4xmedian 15.8x 17.9xmedian 15.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.8xmedian 18.4x 27.7xmedian 18.4x 38.2xmedian 18.4x
P/B now vs peer median 9.6xmedian 3.1x 6.1xmedian 3.1x 5.9xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median 4.14median 4.14 2.67median 4.14 5.09median 4.14

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 monthsWMRSGWCN
Revenue $25.67B $16.89B $9.76B
Gross profit $10.49B $7.09B $4.15B
Operating income $4.51B $3.37B $1.66B
Net income $2.85B $2.19B $1.06B
Free cash flow $3.57B $2.65B $1.23B
EPS (diluted) $7.09 $7.10 $4.18
Cash & equivalents $557.00M $107.00M $98.18M
Total debt $93.65B $14.07B $9.32B
Shares (diluted) 402.40M 307.63M 253.86M
Enterprise value $95.77B $73.88B $46.97B

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
MetricWMRSGWCN
P/E 33.7x 33.8x 44.6x
P/FCF 26.8x 27.7x 38.2x
P/Operating cash flow 14.7x 16.2x 18.7x
P/S 3.7x 4.4x 4.8x
P/B 9.6x 6.1x 5.9x
P/Tangible book 15.2x 6.5x 7.9x
EV/EBITDA 15.8x 16.4x 17.9x
EV/EBIT 26.3x 26.0x 33.9x
EV/Revenue 4.6x 5.2x 5.8x
EV/FCF 33.2x 33.0x 45.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.2x 19.3x 22.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.14 2.67 5.09

Growth

14 metrics
MetricWMRSGWCN
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.2% 3.2% 5.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.6% 5.4% 8.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -18.6% 2.5% 7.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.8% 7.8% 10.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 7.3% 1.6% 47.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 9.1% 9.1% 8.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 4.8% 2.9% 64.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 11.5% 8.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 5.3% 4.9% 68.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.1% 12.7% 8.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 15.9% 9.2% 8.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.8% 10.2% 6.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 65.2% 12.6% 8.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 33.4% 12.3% 2.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricWMRSGWCN
Gross margin 40.9% 42.0% 42.5%
EBITDA margin 29.3% 31.7% 32.2%
Operating margin 17.6% 19.9% 17.0%
Pretax margin 14.1% 15.2% 14.2%
Net margin 11.1% 12.9% 10.9%
FCF margin 13.9% 15.7% 12.6%
Operating cash flow margin 25.4% 26.9% 25.7%
Return on equity 28.6% 18.2% 13.3%
Return on assets 6.2% 6.3% 5.0%
Return on invested capital 10.7% 11.0% 7.4%
Return on capital employed 11.2% 10.9% 8.7%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.5x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 2.1x 2.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% – 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricWMRSGWCN
Debt / assets 50.3% 40.0% 43.6%
Debt / equity 2.4x 1.2x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.0x 2.6x 2.9x
Debt / FCF 6.5x 5.3x 7.6x
Liabilities / assets 78.6% 65.8% 63.0%
Equity / assets 21.4% 34.2% 37.0%
Interest coverage – 5.7x 4.8x
Current ratio 0.9x 0.6x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.6x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.0x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 2.97 3.13 3.13

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricWMRSGWCN
Dividend yield 1.5% 1.1% 0.8%
Net buyback yield 1.0% 2.0% 2.4%
Shareholder yield 2.5% 3.1% 3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 50.1% 34.8% 32.8%
Payout ratio (FCF) 40.0% 28.7% 28.2%
Dividend growth (1Y) 12.4% 6.9% 9.4%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 7.4% 10.9%

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.

ConsensusWMRSGWCN
Forward P/E 27.7xFY2026 32.3xFY2026 34.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.65FY2026 $7.45FY2026 $5.35FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.3%FY2026 +6.1%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +9.5% +5.8% +20.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $25.84BFY2026 $16.59BFY2026 $10.23BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.6%FY2026 +0.0%FY2026 +9.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.0% +15.6% -0.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersWMRSGWCN
Held by institutions 82.3% 58.9% 85.2%
Institutions holding 2,348 1,302 829
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +0.5% +1.3%
Institutions buying 1,094 622 410
Institutions selling 901 484 303
Buyers to sellers 1.21 1.29 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.

WMRSGWCN
WM 1.00 0.83 0.75
RSG 0.83 1.00 0.78
WCN 0.75 0.78 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, WM, RSG and WCN?

Waste Management (WM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Waste Management (WM) $96.86B, Republic Services (RSG) $74.26B, Waste Connections (WCN) $47.35B.

Which stock is cheaper, WM, RSG and WCN?

Waste Management (WM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Waste Management (WM) 34.0x, Republic Services (RSG) 34.0x, Waste Connections (WCN) 44.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Waste Management (WM) is cheapest (Waste Management (WM) 27.7x, Republic Services (RSG) 32.3x, Waste Connections (WCN) 34.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Waste Management (WM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Waste Management (WM) +7.2%, Republic Services (RSG) +3.2%, Waste Connections (WCN) +5.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Republic Services (RSG) has the highest net margin (Waste Management (WM) 11.1%, Republic Services (RSG) 12.9%, Waste Connections (WCN) 10.9%). On return on invested capital, Republic Services (RSG) leads (Waste Management (WM) 10.7%, Republic Services (RSG) 11.0%, Waste Connections (WCN) 7.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Waste Management (WM) returned the most: Waste Management (WM) +10.8%, Republic Services (RSG) +7.7%, Waste Connections (WCN) +5.5%. Over five years, Republic Services (RSG) compounded fastest (Waste Management (WM) +7.8%/yr, Republic Services (RSG) +12.5%/yr, Waste Connections (WCN) +6.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Waste Management (WM) has the highest dividend yield: Waste Management (WM) 0.01%, Republic Services (RSG) 0.01%, Waste Connections (WCN) 0.01%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Republic Services (RSG) has been the steadiest (Waste Management (WM) 21.3%, Republic Services (RSG) 20.2%, Waste Connections (WCN) 25.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, WM, RSG 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 Management (WM) 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.