Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. WCN scored 53.2, VLTO scored 62.0 — VLTO leads.
Compare another set
WCN
Waste Connections, Inc.
Waste Management · Quality-Growth
53.2
$152.83 · $38.4B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
8.8
VLTO leads
VLTO
Veralto Corporation
Pollution & Treatment Controls · Quality-Growth
62
$96.93 · $23.6B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestVLTO24.4x
Fastest growthVLTO+5.9%
Strongest balance sheetVLTO1.16
Highest qualityVLTO81 / 100
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
WCN
stronger →← stronger
VLTO
63
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
81
61
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
61
39
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
48
VLTO is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
WCN
VLTO
$1.2bC+
FCF
$1.0bC+
+5.7%C+
Rev
+5.9%C+
1.22C
D/E
1.16C+
36.9xC
P/E
24.4xB
1.51C+
PEG
2.28C
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
WCN
VLTO
84% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
20% above
~23%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~9%/yr
-50%
1-yr DCF upside
-19%
-46%
5-yr DCF upside
-17%
-39%
10-yr DCF upside
-13%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
WCN
Why this score
Buying back stock
Raising its dividend
VLTO
Why this score
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
The companies
WCNWaste Connections, Inc.
Waste Management · $152.83 · beta 0.48
Why now
Waste Management · market cap $38.4b. 15% off the 52-week high of $179.74. 25 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $198.08 (implying +30% upside).
Moat
ROE 13% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. FCF converts 116% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Trailing P/E 37x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates.
Pollution & Treatment Controls · market cap $23.6b. 8% off the 52-week high of $105.75. 15 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $114.00 (implying +18% upside).
Moat
Net margin 17% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 32% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. FCF converts 108% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Mature compounder — the risk is paying up for quality at a moment when growth is decelerating. Watch for sequential revenue + margin trends; the inflection from "compounder" to "ex-compounder" is hard to spot until the multiple already started compressing.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
VLTO leads WCN by 1.7 points (63.0 to 61.3), its sharpest advantage coming in P/E (grade B). A contrarian could still prefer WCN for its stronger PEG (grade C+). All screen as growth-type names but sit in different sectors (Pollution & Treatment Controls versus Waste Management), so their grades are relative to different peer sets.
Our AI analyst is busy right now, so this verdict is drawn directly from the pillars, grades and DCF above.
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where WCN and VLTO diverge
On the headline score the gap is 8.8 points in favor of VLTO. The widest single difference is Quality, where VLTO leads by 17.8 points.
QualityWCN 63.4 · VLTO 81.2VLTO +17.8
ValueWCN 38.6 · VLTO 48.2VLTO +9.6
GrowthWCN 61.3 · VLTO 61.0level
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is VLTO or WCN the better stock?
VLTO scores higher: VLTO 62.0, WCN 53.2 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do VLTO and WCN differ most?
The widest gap is quality, where VLTO leads by 18 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. VLTO also leads value, while growth is effectively level between them.
How are VLTO and WCN scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.