Analyzing Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) and PureCycle Technologies (NASDAQ:PCT)

PureCycle Technologies (NASDAQ:PCT) and Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares PureCycle Technologies and Waste Connections”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PureCycle Technologies	$8.35 million	160.71	-$182.57 million	($1.21)	-6.14
Waste Connections	$9.47 billion	4.53	$1.08 billion	$4.17	40.34

Waste Connections has higher revenue and earnings than PureCycle Technologies. PureCycle Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Waste Connections, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

PureCycle Technologies has a beta of 2.1, suggesting that its stock price is 110% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Waste Connections has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares PureCycle Technologies and Waste Connections’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PureCycle Technologies	-2,185.10%	-204.74%	-24.69%
Waste Connections	11.37%	16.25%	6.41%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

63.0% of PureCycle Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.1% of Waste Connections shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.8% of PureCycle Technologies 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 large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for PureCycle Technologies and Waste Connections, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PureCycle Technologies	1	1	1	1	2.50
Waste Connections	0	4	14	4	3.00

PureCycle Technologies presently has a consensus price target of $13.00, indicating a potential upside of 75.08%. Waste Connections has a consensus price target of $202.81, indicating a potential upside of 20.58%. Given PureCycle Technologies’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe PureCycle Technologies is more favorable than Waste Connections.

Summary

Waste Connections beats PureCycle Technologies on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PureCycle Technologies

PureCycle Technologies, Inc. engages in the production of recycled polypropylene (PP). The company holds a license for restoring waste PP into ultra-pure recycled polypropylene resin that has multiple applications, including packaging and labeling for consumer products, piping, ropes, cabling, and plastic parts for various industries. Its recycling process separates color, odor, and other contaminants from plastic waste feedstock to transform it into virgin-like resin. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

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.