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Business Services

Waste Management Services

9 investable US stocks · data to Saturday, October 24, 2026

Acquirer's Multiple percentile today71st percentile
Dearer than in 99% of quarters since 1999Its usual range since 1999 is the 35th to 66th percentile (the middle 80% of quarters), with a median of the 53rd. Lower is cheaper: the 10th percentile is cheaper than 90% of the investable US market; the 50th is the middle.

Is it cheap because returns are depressed?

The industry is dear against its own past, and returns on assets are in their usual range. Free cash flow yield is low (lower than in 85% of quarters), so the cash doesn't support the premium. A low multiple can be warranted when returns on assets are low, and a high one when they are high, so the multiple reads best next to returns and free cash flow, each against the industry's own history.

Over- or under-earning?

Under-earning

Return on assets ranks at the 32nd percentile of investable US stocks, against a median of the 53rd and a low of the 27th since 1999. That is well below its usual level, so it may be under-earning, and today's multiple is likely too high on a normalized basis. If earnings normalize, the multiple would likely fall: from the 71st percentile today (dearer than 71% of investable US stocks) to around the 51st (about the middle of the market), judging by where it sat in past quarters when returns were at their usual level. If returns fell to their low, it would be around the 68th (dearer than 68% of investable US stocks).

PercentileTodayReturns normalReturns at low
Return on assets (higher is better)32nd53rd (median)27th (low)
Acquirer's Multiple (lower is cheaper)71st51st68th
Waste Management Services's return on assets as a percentile, quarterly since 1999. The shaded band is its usual range; the dashed line its median.
025507510020002005201020152020202532▲ better

Percentiles among investable US stocks. Return on assets is operating income over total assets, trailing 12 months. The last two columns show where it sat in past quarters when returns were within 7.5 points of their median (77 quarters) and of their low (5). The past, not a forecast.

Against its own history

Each chart is the industry's median stock as a percentile of all investable US stocks, quarterly since 1999. For the Acquirer's Multiple and debt to equity, lower is better. The shaded band is its usual range (the middle 80% of quarters); the dashed line is its long-run median; the dot is today. Green shading marks the better end of each scale and red the worse, and today's dot takes the colour of where it sits.

Acquirer's MultipleNear its dearestPercentile of enterprise value ÷ operating income: lower is cheaper. Dearer than in 99% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202571▼ better
Free cash flow yieldLower than usualPercentile of free cash flow yield: higher is a bigger yield. Lower than in 85% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202539▲ better
Shareholder yieldUsual rangeDividends plus buybacks, as a percentile: higher is a bigger yield. Higher than in 60% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202554▲ better
Dividend yieldNear its lowestPercentile of dividend yield: higher is a bigger yield. Lower than in 95% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202526▲ better
Return on assets, 5-yrUsual rangePercentile of five-year return on assets: higher is better. Lower than in 50% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202553▲ better
Debt to equityLeast debt on recordPercentile of debt to equity: lower is less debt. Less indebted than in 91% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202565▼ better
Company sizeNear its largestPercentile of market cap: higher is larger. Larger than in 99% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202582

Waste Management Services stocks in the screens today

In today's screens, cheapest first. ● marks one of a screen's 30 tracked picks.

StockScreenAcquirer's MultipleFCF yieldShareholder yield

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Other Business Services industries

Marketing and Printing Services dearer than 61%Business Support Services dearer than 75%Other Professional Services dearer than 93%

Quarterly since 1999 from point-in-time data. Each quarter, every investable US stock (price above $3, market cap above $75M, average daily trading above $850,000, no OTC, ADRs or MLPs) is placed in a percentile (0-100) against all the others on each metric. An industry's value is the median percentile of its stocks. Industries follow FactSet's RBICS classification. Percentiles describe the past; they are not investment advice or a forecast.