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WCN vs WM

Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN) and Waste Management Inc (WM) are both filed with the SEC under Refuse Systems. WM is 2.1× WCN's size by market cap ($87.4B against $41.8B); WCN trades at the higher fiscal-year P/E (39.7× against 32.5×); WCN reports the higher net margin (11.4% against 10.7%); WCN grew sales faster over three years (+9.5% against +8.6%); and over the past year WM returned -0.6% against WCN's -8.7%.

WCNWM
Last close$165.93$219.66
Market cap$41.8B$87.4B
P/E (FY)39.7×32.5×
P/S4.4×3.5×
EV/EBITDA17.2×15.4×
Operating margin18.1%17.1%
Net margin11.4%10.7%
Return on equity13.4%29.7%
Sales growth (3y)+9.5%+8.6%
EPS growth (3y)+8.8%+7.5%
Dividend yield0.8%1.5%
1-year return-8.7%-0.6%

Screener snapshot — prices as of 2026-08-28. Each side's last close is the most recent session the snapshot holds for that company, which can be an earlier one, and its 1-year return is measured to that close. Market caps struck on 2026-08-27. Last close, market cap and the 1-year return are price figures; every other row is computed over the company's latest filed fiscal year — FY2025 (ended 2025-12-31) for both.

Who holds them, and who has traded them

WCNWM
Institutional holders (13F)7912,336
Insider buyers − sellers (180d)-5-5
Congressional trades disclosed (180d)00
Executive-branch officials on file — trades disclosed (180d)08

Counts only. The congressional figures count transactions dated in the trailing 180 days and disclosed in STOCK Act periodic transaction reports; amounts are filed as ranges and are never summed. The executive-branch figures count the same window of transactions, and they are scoped to one roster. The officials OGE posts for direct download. Insider buyers − sellers counts distinct people filing open-market Form 4 purchases minus distinct people filing open-market sales over the trailing 180 days, capped at ±5.

WCN vs WM: common questions

Is WCN bigger than WM?
WM carries the larger market cap — $87.4B against $41.8B, both struck on 2026-08-27.
Which trades at a higher P/E, WCN or WM?
WCN, at a fiscal-year 39.7× against 32.5× for WM. Both are price ÷ latest full-year diluted earnings per share, not a trailing-twelve-month P/E.
How have WCN and WM performed over the past year?
WM returned -0.6% and WCN -8.7%, measured on the trailing calendar year to the last close.
How many institutions hold WCN and WM?
791 13F filers report a position in WCN and 2,336 in WM, on the latest quarter in the panel.
Are WCN and WM in the same industry?
Both are filed with the SEC under Refuse Systems, which is the classification this pairing is built on.

WCN overview · WM overview · WCN institutional ownership · WM institutional ownership · Executive branch and WM

More in Refuse Systems: RSG vs WCN · RSG vs WM

Stock comparisons lists every pair this site publishes.

Source: SPZCO — https://spzco.com/vs/wcn-vs-wm