Stantec (STN) Competitors

Stantec (NYSE:STN) and Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) 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 profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

Is STN or WCN more profitable?

Waste Connections has a net margin of 6.93% compared to Stantec's net margin of 5.01%. Stantec's return on equity of 18.22% beat Waste Connections' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stantec	5.01%	18.22%	7.61%
Waste Connections	6.93%	15.74%	6.36%

Do analysts prefer STN or WCN?

Waste Connections has a consensus target price of $212.29, indicating a potential upside of 19.40%. Given Waste Connections' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Waste Connections is more favorable than Stantec.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stantec	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Waste Connections	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	4 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.05

Is STN or WCN a better dividend stock?

Stantec pays an annual dividend of $0.65 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Waste Connections pays an annual dividend of $1.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Stantec pays out 26.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Waste Connections pays out 51.9% 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. Stantec has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Waste Connections has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in STN or WCN?

63.9% of Stantec shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.1% of Waste Connections shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Stantec shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Waste Connections shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to STN or WCN?

In the previous week, Waste Connections had 13 more articles in the media than Stantec. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for Waste Connections and 5 mentions for Stantec. Waste Connections' average media sentiment score of 0.79 beat Stantec's score of 0.31 indicating that Waste Connections is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Stantec	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Waste Connections	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, STN or WCN?

Stantec has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Waste Connections has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, STN or WCN?

Waste Connections has higher revenue and earnings than Stantec. Stantec 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
Stantec	$5.47B	2.26	$263.82M	$2.42	44.89
Waste Connections	$8.92B	5.15	$617.57M	$2.43	73.17

Summary

Waste Connections beats Stantec on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.