Head-To-Head Comparison: Waste Management (NYSE:WM) versus PureCycle Technologies (NASDAQ:PCT)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

80.4% of Waste Management shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.0% of PureCycle Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Waste Management shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 18.8% of PureCycle Technologies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Waste Management has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PureCycle Technologies has a beta of 2.48, meaning that its stock price is 148% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Waste Management and PureCycle Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Waste Management	0	8	15	0	2.65
PureCycle Technologies	1	1	1	1	2.50

Waste Management presently has a consensus target price of $255.30, suggesting a potential upside of 19.08%. PureCycle Technologies has a consensus target price of $12.25, suggesting a potential upside of 40.80%. Given PureCycle Technologies’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe PureCycle Technologies is more favorable than Waste Management.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Waste Management and PureCycle Technologies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Waste Management	$25.41 billion	3.39	$2.71 billion	$6.91	31.03
PureCycle Technologies	$10.90 million	144.33	-$182.57 million	($1.47)	-5.92

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Waste Management	10.99%	31.90%	6.76%
PureCycle Technologies	-2,062.36%	-393.01%	-22.56%

Summary

Waste Management beats PureCycle Technologies on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity. As of December 31, 2022, the company owned or operated 254 solid waste landfills, five secure hazardous waste landfills, 97 MRFs, and 337 transfer stations. It also provides materials processing and commodities recycling services at its MRFs, where cardboard, paper, glass, metals, plastics, construction and demolition materials, and other recycling commodities are recovered for resale or redirected for other purposes; recycling brokerage services, such as managing the marketing of recyclable materials for third parties; and other strategic business solutions. In addition, the company offers construction and remediation services; services related with the disposal of fly ash, and residue generated from the combustion of coal and other fuel stocks; in-plant services comprising full-service waste management solutions and consulting services; and specialized disposal services for oil and gas exploration and production operations. The company was formerly known as USA Waste Services, Inc. and changed its name to Waste Management, Inc. in 1998. Waste Management, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

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.