Head to Head Survey: Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) versus PureCycle Technologies (NASDAQ:PCT)

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

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares PureCycle Technologies and Casella Waste Systems”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PureCycle Technologies	N/A	N/A	-$289.14 million	($1.46)	-5.51
Casella Waste Systems	$1.80 billion	3.29	$13.54 million	$0.24	387.58

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PureCycle Technologies	N/A	-143.06%	-23.17%
Casella Waste Systems	0.64%	4.97%	2.40%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

63.0% of PureCycle Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.5% of Casella Waste Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 21.7% of PureCycle Technologies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Casella Waste Systems shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

PureCycle Technologies has a beta of 2.01, meaning that its share price is 101% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Casella Waste Systems has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for PureCycle Technologies and Casella Waste Systems, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PureCycle Technologies	1	0	3	3	3.14
Casella Waste Systems	1	2	7	1	2.73

PureCycle Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 86.34%. Casella Waste Systems has a consensus target price of $113.75, indicating a potential upside of 22.29%. Given PureCycle Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe PureCycle Technologies is more favorable than Casella Waste Systems.

Summary

Casella Waste Systems beats PureCycle Technologies on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Casella Waste Systems

Casella Waste Systems, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a vertically integrated solid waste services company in the United States. It offers resource management services primarily in the areas of solid waste collection and disposal, transfer, recycling, and organics services to residential, commercial, municipal, institutional, and industrial customers. The company provides non-hazardous solid waste services, including collections, transfer stations, recycling, and disposal operations. In addition, it markets materials, including fibers, corrugated cardboard, newsprint, plastics, glass, ferrous, and aluminum metals. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Rutland, Vermont.