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 contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, media sentiment and risk.

Is WM or CLH more profitable?

Waste Management has a net margin of 11.36% compared to Clean Harbors' net margin of 6.48%. Waste Management's return on equity of 34.37% beat Clean Harbors' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Waste Management	11.36%	34.37%	6.91%
Clean Harbors	6.48%	14.82%	5.24%

Does the media refer more to WM or CLH?

In the previous week, Waste Management had 26 more articles in the media than Clean Harbors. MarketBeat recorded 39 mentions for Waste Management and 13 mentions for Clean Harbors. Clean Harbors' average media sentiment score of 1.74 beat Waste Management's score of 0.65 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	18 Very Positive mention(s)	11 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	4 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Clean Harbors	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts rate WM or CLH?

Waste Management presently has a consensus target price of $254.35, suggesting a potential upside of 15.57%. Clean Harbors has a consensus target price of $263.40, suggesting a potential upside of 11.46%. Given Waste Management's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly 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)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73
Clean Harbors	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.90

Which has more risk & volatility, WM or CLH?

Waste Management has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clean Harbors has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation and earnings, WM or CLH?

Waste Management has higher revenue and earnings than Clean Harbors. Waste Management is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Clean Harbors, 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	$23.95B	3.70	$2.75B	$6.74	32.65
Clean Harbors	$5.89B	2.15	$402.30M	$7.12	33.19

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of WM or CLH?

80.4% of Waste Management shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of Clean Harbors shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Waste Management shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of Clean Harbors shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Waste Management beats Clean Harbors on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.