Waste Management (WM) Competitors

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) and Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) are both large-cap business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and media sentiment.

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, WM or CLH?

Waste Management has higher revenue and earnings than Clean Harbors. Clean Harbors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Waste Management, 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
Waste Management	$22.06B	4.13	$2.75B	$6.63	34.15
Clean Harbors	$5.89B	2.13	$402.30M	$7.22	32.43

Does the media favor WM or CLH?

In the previous week, Waste Management had 45 more articles in the media than Clean Harbors. MarketBeat recorded 53 mentions for Waste Management and 8 mentions for Clean Harbors. Clean Harbors' average media sentiment score of 1.71 beat Waste Management's score of 0.51 indicating that Clean Harbors is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Waste Management	29 Very Positive mention(s)	12 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	6 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Clean Harbors	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, WM or CLH?

Waste Management has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clean Harbors has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend WM or CLH?

Waste Management presently has a consensus target price of $251.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.85%. Clean Harbors has a consensus target price of $257.67, indicating a potential upside of 10.04%. Given Waste Management's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Waste Management is more favorable than Clean Harbors.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Waste Management	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78
Clean Harbors	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78

Is WM or CLH more profitable?

Waste Management has a net margin of 11.67% compared to Clean Harbors' net margin of 6.58%. Waste Management's return on equity of 35.67% beat Clean Harbors' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Waste Management	11.67%	35.67%	7.31%
Clean Harbors	6.58%	15.47%	5.38%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in WM or CLH?

80.4% of Waste Management shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of Clean Harbors shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Waste Management shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of Clean Harbors shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Waste Management beats Clean Harbors on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.