WM vs WCN vs CLH Stock Comparison

Waste Management, Waste Connections and Clean Harbors Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
WM Waste Management Inc
$225.20 +9.1% 1M +10.3% 1Y
Market cap
$89.56B
P/E
29.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$26.07B
Div. yield
1.62%
Solid Waste Industrials
7 wins
CLH Clean Harbors Inc
$313.39 +0.0% 1M +27.3% 1Y
Market cap
$16.52B
P/E
31.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.56B
Div. yield
–
Hazardous Waste Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Waste Management leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Waste Management 7, Clean Harbors 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionWMWCNCLHLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $89.56B $45.33B $16.52B WM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.3x 37.2x 31.3x WM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.0x 33.3x 30.5x WM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.2% +6.3% +10.1% CLH
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.8% — 8.0% WM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.4% — 10.9% WM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.0x — 1.8x CLH
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.62% 0.78% — WM
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +10.3% +3.2% +27.3% CLH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +7.0%/yr +5.7%/yr +22.7%/yr CLH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.4% 25.8% 27.8% WM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 53/100 46/100 72/100 CLH

Percentile Scorecard

WMWCNCLH

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

AxisWMWCNCLH
Valuation 53 #8 of 16 27 #12 of 16 60 #7 of 16
Growth 62 #6 of 14 69 #5 of 14 77 #4 of 14
Profitability 92 #2 of 14 69 #5 of 14 85 #3 of 14
Financial Health 7 #15 of 16 20 #13 of 16 67 #6 of 16
Shareholder Returns – – –
Overall 53 46 72
  • WM ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management
  • 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

PeriodWMWCNCLHSPY
1 month +9.1%+15.1%+0.0% +0.9%
3 months -4.8%+4.0%-4.2% +5.9%
6 months -2.2%+9.8%+2.3% +8.5%
Year to date +2.5%+2.5%+33.7% +13.3%
1 year +10.3%+3.2%+27.3% +12.4%
3 years +39.5%+40.4%+107.5% +88.1%
3 years, per year +11.8%+12.0%+27.6% +23.5%
5 years +40.5%+32.2%+178.5% +68.2%
5 years, per year +7.0%+5.7%+22.7% +11.0%
10 years +252.0%+258.6%+567.1% +263.4%
10 years, per year +13.4%+13.6%+20.9% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureWMWCNCLHSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.4%25.8%27.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.8%23.5%31.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.42-0.190.26 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.480.130.98 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -18.7%-25.5%-30.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -8.6%-3.7%-4.2% -0.9%
52-week high $246.51$186.62$327.10 $779.14
52-week low $196.77$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.

MultipleWMWCNCLH
P/E now vs peer median 29.3xmedian 31.3x 37.2xmedian 31.3x 31.3xmedian 31.3x
P/S now vs peer median 3.4xmedian 3.1x 4.6xmedian 3.1x 2.5xmedian 3.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.5xmedian 14.3x —median 14.3x 14.2xmedian 14.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 23.9xmedian 16.9x 31.8xmedian 16.9x 33.0xmedian 16.9x
P/B now vs peer median 9.1xmedian 2.7x 5.7xmedian 2.7x 5.3xmedian 2.7x
PEG now vs peer median 2.79median 2.37 —median 2.37 2.16median 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 monthsWMWCNCLH
Revenue $26.07B $9.94B $6.56B
Gross profit $10.53B – $2.17B
Operating income $4.80B $1.76B $864.39M
Net income $3.07B $1.13B $528.36M
Free cash flow $3.74B – $500.54M
EPS (diluted) $7.68 – $9.99
Cash & equivalents $247.00M $95.69M $423.54M
Total debt $23.37B – $2.89B
Shares (diluted) 399.80M 253.86M 52.90M
Enterprise value $88.40B $45.33B $13.87B

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
MetricWMWCNCLH
P/E 29.3x 37.2x 31.3x
P/FCF 23.9x 31.8x 33.0x
P/Operating cash flow 13.6x 17.9x 16.2x
P/S 3.4x 4.6x 2.5x
P/B 9.1x 5.7x 5.3x
P/Tangible book 14.2x 7.7x 7.3x
EV/EBITDA 14.5x – 14.2x
EV/EBIT 23.5x – 21.9x
EV/Revenue 4.3x 4.6x 2.9x
EV/FCF 30.1x – 37.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.2x 17.9x 18.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.79 – 2.16

Growth

14 metrics
MetricWMWCNCLH
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.2% 6.3% 10.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 8.2% 7.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -21.0% – 17.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.5% – 10.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.9% 61.8% 32.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 10.5% 10.0% 13.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 19.7% 82.2% 36.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 10.0% 10.9% 13.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 21.1% – 38.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 10.5% – 14.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 12.1% 4.2% 25.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.4% 6.5% 12.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 55.7% – 11.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 30.8% – 17.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricWMWCNCLH
Gross margin 40.4% – 33.1%
EBITDA margin 29.8% – 20.3%
Operating margin 18.4% – 13.2%
Pretax margin 14.9% – 10.9%
Net margin 11.8% – 8.0%
FCF margin 14.3% – 7.6%
Operating cash flow margin 25.2% 25.4% 15.5%
Return on equity 31.0% 14.3% 17.5%
Return on assets 6.6% 5.3% 6.6%
Return on invested capital 11.4% – 10.9%
Return on capital employed 12.0% – 12.8%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.5x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.1x 2.2x 1.9x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 0.8% 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricWMWCNCLH
Debt / assets 50.2% – 34.9%
Debt / equity 2.4x – 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.0x – 1.8x
Debt / FCF 6.2x – 5.8x
Liabilities / assets 78.8% 63.3% 62.4%
Equity / assets 21.2% 36.7% 37.6%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 0.8x 0.7x 1.9x
Quick ratio 0.7x – 1.6x
Cash ratio 0.0x – 0.4x
Altman Z-score 2.89 – 3.77

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricWMWCNCLH
Dividend yield 1.6% 0.8% –
Net buyback yield 1.7% – 1.2%
Shareholder yield 3.3% 0.8% 1.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 48.0% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 39.4% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 13.2% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.6% – –

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.

ConsensusWMWCNCLH
Forward P/E 26.0xFY2026 33.3xFY2026 30.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.65FY2026 $5.40FY2026 $10.29FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.3%FY2026 +5.9%FY2026 +41.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +9.5% +18.7% +5.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $25.84BFY2026 $10.30BFY2026 $6.28BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.6%FY2026 +10.0%FY2026 +4.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.0% 0.0% +15.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersWMWCNCLH
Held by institutions 82.3% 85.2% 93.5%
Institutions holding 2,349 829 658
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +1.3% 0.0%
Institutions buying 1,095 410 306
Institutions selling 901 303 246
Buyers to sellers 1.22 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.

WMWCNCLH
WM 1.00 0.75 0.28
WCN 0.75 1.00 0.39
CLH 0.28 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, WM, WCN and CLH?

Waste Management (WM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Waste Management (WM) $89.56B, Waste Connections (WCN) $45.33B, Clean Harbors (CLH) $16.52B.

Which stock is cheaper, WM, WCN and CLH?

Waste Management (WM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Waste Management (WM) 29.3x, Waste Connections (WCN) 37.2x, Clean Harbors (CLH) 31.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Waste Management (WM) is cheapest (Waste Management (WM) 26.0x, Waste Connections (WCN) 33.3x, Clean Harbors (CLH) 30.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Clean Harbors (CLH) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Waste Management (WM) +5.2%, Waste Connections (WCN) +6.3%, Clean Harbors (CLH) +10.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Waste Management (WM) has the highest net margin (Waste Management (WM) 11.8%, Clean Harbors (CLH) 8.0%). On return on invested capital, Waste Management (WM) leads (Waste Management (WM) 11.4%, Clean Harbors (CLH) 10.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Clean Harbors (CLH) returned the most: Waste Management (WM) +10.3%, Waste Connections (WCN) +3.2%, Clean Harbors (CLH) +27.3%. Over five years, Clean Harbors (CLH) compounded fastest (Waste Management (WM) +7.0%/yr, Waste Connections (WCN) +5.7%/yr, Clean Harbors (CLH) +22.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Waste Management (WM) has the highest dividend yield: Waste Management (WM) 1.62%, Waste Connections (WCN) 0.78%. Clean Harbors (CLH) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Waste Management (WM) has been the steadiest (Waste Management (WM) 21.4%, Waste Connections (WCN) 25.8%, Clean Harbors (CLH) 27.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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