Aqua Metals (NASDAQ:AQMS – Get Free Report) and Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN – Get Free Report) are both business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Aqua Metals and Waste Connections, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Aqua Metals | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Waste Connections | 1 | 3 | 14 | 4 | 2.95 |
Aqua Metals currently has a consensus price target of $30.00, indicating a potential upside of 594.44%. Waste Connections has a consensus price target of $206.50, indicating a potential upside of 20.30%. Given Aqua Metals’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Aqua Metals is more favorable than Waste Connections.
Valuation and Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Aqua Metals | $30,000.00 | 429.12 | -$24.55 million | ($30.53) | -0.14 |
| Waste Connections | $9.35 billion | 4.69 | $617.57 million | $2.40 | 71.52 |
Waste Connections has higher revenue and earnings than Aqua Metals. Aqua Metals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Waste Connections, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
22.0% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.1% of Waste Connections shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.3% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Waste Connections shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Aqua Metals and Waste Connections’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Aqua Metals | N/A | -274.21% | -159.86% |
| Waste Connections | 6.65% | 16.07% | 6.37% |
Risk and Volatility
Aqua Metals has a beta of -0.03, meaning that its share price is 103% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Waste Connections has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Waste Connections beats Aqua Metals on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Aqua Metals
Aqua Metals, Inc. engages in reinventing metals recycling activities with its patented AquaRefining technology. The company's technology produces metals and alloys that can be returned into the battery manufacturing supply chain markets, as well as sells metals for use in various advanced manufacturing industries. Its AquaRefining, a low-emissions and recycling technology that replaces polluting furnaces and hazardous chemicals with electricity-powered electroplating to recover valuable metals and materials from spent batteries. Aqua Metals, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.
About Waste Connections
Waste Connections, Inc. provides non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, disposal, and resource recovery services in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services to residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, and exploration and production (E&P) customers; landfill disposal services; and recycling services for various recyclable materials, including compost, cardboard, mixed paper, plastic containers, glass bottles, and ferrous and aluminum metals. The company owns and operates transfer stations that receive compact and/or load waste to be transported to landfills or treatment facilities through truck, rail, or barge; and intermodal services for the rail haul movement of cargo and solid waste containers in the Pacific Northwest through a network of intermodal facilities. In addition, it provides E&P waste treatment, recovery, and disposal services for waste resulting from oil and natural gas exploration and production activity, such as drilling fluids, drill cuttings, completion fluids, and flowback water; production wastes and produced water during a well's operating life; contaminated soils that require treatment during site reclamation; and substances, which require clean-up after a spill, reserve pit clean-up, or pipeline rupture. Further, the company offers leasing services to its customers. Waste Connections, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in Woodbridge, Canada.
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