Head to Head Comparison: Montrose Environmental Group (NYSE:MEG) vs. GFL Environmental (NYSE:GFL)

GFL Environmental (NYSE:GFL) and Montrose Environmental Group (NYSE:MEG) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for GFL Environmental and Montrose Environmental Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GFL Environmental	0	2	12	2	3.00
Montrose Environmental Group	1	2	4	0	2.43

GFL Environmental currently has a consensus target price of $57.08, indicating a potential upside of 26.15%. Montrose Environmental Group has a consensus target price of $34.40, indicating a potential upside of 35.39%. Given Montrose Environmental Group’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Montrose Environmental Group is more favorable than GFL Environmental.

Profitability

This table compares GFL Environmental and Montrose Environmental Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GFL Environmental	50.99%	3.06%	1.21%
Montrose Environmental Group	-2.52%	0.17%	0.08%

Risk & Volatility

GFL Environmental has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Montrose Environmental Group has a beta of 1.84, meaning that its stock price is 84% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares GFL Environmental and Montrose Environmental Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GFL Environmental	$5.62 billion	2.93	-$527.43 million	$6.38	7.09
Montrose Environmental Group	$696.40 million	1.29	-$62.31 million	($0.91)	-27.92

Montrose Environmental Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than GFL Environmental. Montrose Environmental Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than GFL Environmental, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

64.7% of GFL Environmental shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of Montrose Environmental Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.7% of GFL Environmental shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.2% of Montrose Environmental Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

GFL Environmental beats Montrose Environmental Group on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About GFL Environmental

GFL Environmental Inc. offers non-hazardous solid waste management and environmental services in Canada and the United States. It offers solid waste management, liquid waste management, and soil remediation services, including collection, transportation, transfer, recycling, and disposal services for municipal, residential, and commercial, and industrial customers. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Vaughan, Canada.

About Montrose Environmental Group

Montrose Environmental Group, Inc. operates as an environmental services company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Assessment, Permitting and Response; Measurement and Analysis; and Remediation and Reuse. The Assessment, Permitting and Response segment provides scientific advisory and consulting services to support environmental assessments; environmental emergency response and recovery; toxicology consulting and environmental audits and permits for current operations; facility upgrades; new projects; decommissioning projects; and development projects. This segment also offers technical advisory and consulting services, including regulatory compliance support and planning, environmental, ecosystem and toxicological assessments, and support during responses to environmental disruptions. The Measurement and Analysis segment tests and analyzes air, water, and soil to determine concentrations of contaminants, as well as the toxicological impact of contaminants on flora, fauna, and human health. Its services include source and ambient air testing and monitoring, leak detection, and advanced analytical laboratory services, such as storm water, wastewater, and drinking water analysis. The Remediation and Reuse segment provides engineering, design, implementation, and operations and maintenance services primarily to treat contaminated water, remove contaminants from soil, or create biogas from waste. The company serves financial, oil and gas, utilities, construction, automotive, real-estate, midstream energy, manufacturing, commodities, petrochemical, food and beverage, telecommunications, and engineering industries, as well as local, state, provincial, and federal government entities. Montrose Environmental Group, Inc. was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas.