Head to Head Survey: Waste Management (NYSE:WM) vs. ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ)

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

18.5% of ARQ shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.4% of Waste Management shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.9% of ARQ shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Waste Management shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ARQ and Waste Management”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ARQ	$108.96 million	1.31	-$5.11 million	($0.10)	-33.50
Waste Management	$22.06 billion	3.93	$2.75 billion	$6.35	33.94

Waste Management has higher revenue and earnings than ARQ. ARQ 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 ARQ and Waste Management’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ARQ	-3.33%	-1.11%	-0.86%
Waste Management	10.35%	33.00%	6.52%

Volatility & Risk

ARQ has a beta of 1.95, indicating that its share price is 95% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Waste Management has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for ARQ and Waste Management, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ARQ	2	0	2	1	2.40
Waste Management	0	10	17	3	2.77

ARQ presently has a consensus price target of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 168.66%. Waste Management has a consensus price target of $249.14, suggesting a potential upside of 15.61%. Given ARQ’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ARQ is more favorable than Waste Management.

Summary

Waste Management beats ARQ on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.