Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN – Get Free Report) and ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ – Get Free Report) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
86.1% of Waste Connections shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.5% of ARQ shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Waste Connections shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 23.9% of ARQ shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Waste Connections and ARQ, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Waste Connections | 1 | 3 | 15 | 5 | 3.00 |
| ARQ | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2.40 |
Profitability
This table compares Waste Connections and ARQ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Waste Connections | 6.65% | 16.07% | 6.37% |
| ARQ | -1.40% | -0.07% | -0.05% |
Volatility and Risk
Waste Connections has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ARQ has a beta of 1.96, suggesting that its share price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Waste Connections and ARQ”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Waste Connections | $9.35 billion | 4.80 | $617.57 million | $2.40 | 73.08 |
| ARQ | $117.95 million | 1.27 | -$5.11 million | ($0.10) | -35.00 |
Waste Connections has higher revenue and earnings than ARQ. ARQ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Waste Connections, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Waste Connections beats ARQ on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Waste Connections
Waste Connections, Inc. provides non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, disposal, and resource recovery services in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services to residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, and exploration and production (E&P) customers; landfill disposal services; and recycling services for various recyclable materials, including compost, cardboard, mixed paper, plastic containers, glass bottles, and ferrous and aluminum metals. The company owns and operates transfer stations that receive compact and/or load waste to be transported to landfills or treatment facilities through truck, rail, or barge; and intermodal services for the rail haul movement of cargo and solid waste containers in the Pacific Northwest through a network of intermodal facilities. In addition, it provides E&P waste treatment, recovery, and disposal services for waste resulting from oil and natural gas exploration and production activity, such as drilling fluids, drill cuttings, completion fluids, and flowback water; production wastes and produced water during a well's operating life; contaminated soils that require treatment during site reclamation; and substances, which require clean-up after a spill, reserve pit clean-up, or pipeline rupture. Further, the company offers leasing services to its customers. Waste Connections, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in Woodbridge, Canada.
About ARQ
Arq, Inc. is a holding company. It engages in the provision of environmental and emission control equipment to the power generation industry. The company operates through the following Segments: Refined Coal and Advanced Purification Technologies. The Refined Coal segment includes the Tinuum Group, Tinuum Services, and GWN Manager. The Advanced Purification Technologies segment refers to the sale of Activated Carbon Injection and Dry Sorbent Injection equipment systems, chemical sales, consulting services, and other sales related to the reduction of emissions in the coal-fired electric generation process and the electric utility industry. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO.
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