TransUnion (TRU) Competitors

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) and Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) are both large-cap business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, community ranking, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer TRU or WCN?

Waste Connections received 343 more outperform votes than TransUnion when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 75.11% of users gave Waste Connections an outperform vote while only 67.35% of users gave TransUnion an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
TransUnion	Outperform Votes 526 67.35%	Underperform Votes 255 32.65%
Waste Connections	Outperform Votes 869 75.11%	Underperform Votes 288 24.89%

Is TRU or WCN more profitable?

Waste Connections has a net margin of 6.92% compared to TransUnion's net margin of 6.80%. TransUnion's return on equity of 15.85% beat Waste Connections' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TransUnion	6.80%	15.85%	6.13%
Waste Connections	6.92%	15.54%	6.33%

Which has more volatility & risk, TRU or WCN?

TransUnion has a beta of 1.7, indicating that its stock price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Waste Connections has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is TRU or WCN a better dividend stock?

TransUnion pays an annual dividend of $0.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Waste Connections pays an annual dividend of $1.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. TransUnion pays out 31.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Waste Connections pays out 52.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Do analysts rate TRU or WCN?

TransUnion currently has a consensus price target of $111.64, suggesting a potential upside of 27.20%. Waste Connections has a consensus price target of $202.43, suggesting a potential upside of 6.05%. Given TransUnion's higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe TransUnion is more favorable than Waste Connections.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TransUnion	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Waste Connections	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.87

Does the media favor TRU or WCN?

In the previous week, TransUnion and TransUnion both had 20 articles in the media. TransUnion's average media sentiment score of 1.34 beat Waste Connections' score of 0.93 indicating that TransUnion is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
TransUnion	15 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Waste Connections	12 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals believe in TRU or WCN?

86.1% of Waste Connections shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of TransUnion shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Waste Connections shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, TRU or WCN?

Waste Connections has higher revenue and earnings than TransUnion. TransUnion is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Waste Connections, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TransUnion	$4.18B	4.09	$284.30M	$1.46	60.12
Waste Connections	$8.92B	5.52	$617.57M	$2.39	79.87

Summary

Waste Connections beats TransUnion on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.