GFL Environmental Inc. vs WASTE CONNECTIONS, INC., two Waste Management stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Waste Connections earns 13.09% on equity by dominating secondary markets, and trades at a lofty 40.94 times earnings and 5.33 times book. GFL Environmental, the Canadian collector, has headline profitability distorted by a large one-time asset sale, so the cleaner comparison is the cash. GFL throws off 7.03% of its price in free cash flow against 2.69% at Waste Connections, and trades at just 2.50 times book. Waste Connections carries 1.14 debt to equity while GFL has cut its net borrowing to little. Waste Connections at $42.9B is three times GFL at $13.8B, and the market pays a steep multiple for its steady compounding that GFL, cheaper on assets, does not command.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | GFL | WCN |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $39.73 | $171.13 |
| Market cap | $14.7B | $43.8B |
| Sector | Waste Management | Waste Management |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | — | +15.1% |
| P/E | 5.3 | 41.7 |
| P/B | 2.67 | 5.43 |
| P/S | 3.02 | 4.56 |
| EV/EBITDA | — | 18.0 |
| Revenue growth | +8.1% | +5.9% |
| Operating margin | — | 15.4% |
| Net margin | 57.6% | 11.0% |
| Return on equity | 50.9% | 13.1% |
| Return on assets | 19.8% | 5.0% |
| Return on invested capital | — | 7.6% |
| FCF yield | 6.6% | 2.6% |
| Dividend yield | — | 0.8% |
| Debt / equity | 0.00 | 1.14 |
| Current ratio | 0.58 | 0.69 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 1.32 | 2.83 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 7 / 9 | 6 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.