Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN) Key Metrics
WCN valuation today
Trailing 12 months · as of October 18, 2026- Market cap
- $42.24B
- Enterprise value
- $48.61B
- P/E (TTM)
- 40.6 10-yr median 45.7
- Forward P/E
- 18.1
- PEG ratio
- 1.51
- Price / sales
- 4.3 10-yr median 4.7
- Price / book
- 4.9 10-yr median 4.4
- EV / EBITDA
- 16.2 10-yr median 18.5
- Dividend yield
- 0.83% $1.40 a year
- Beta
- 0.48
WCN key metrics, 2016–2025
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · U.S. dollarsWCN valuation Price multiples at each fiscal year-end price.
WCN returns How much profit the business earns on the capital it uses.
WCN per-share figures Results divided by the shares outstanding at year-end.
WCN financial health Debt, liquidity and how easily interest is covered.
WCN efficiency & capital use Working capital cycle and where the cash goes.
WCN valuation history
WCN returns on capital
Net income (ROE, ROA) or after-tax operating income (ROIC) divided by the average of the opening and closing balance.
WCN debt vs cash
Debt includes short- and long-term borrowings and, where reported, lease liabilities.
WCN cash returned to shareholders
WCN price vs earnings per share
WCN key metrics
2016–2025| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation | ||||||||||
| Market capitalization | $44.97B | $44.38B | $38.53B | $34.21B | $35.67B | $27.05B | $24.02B | $19.63B | $18.75B | $12.11B |
| Enterprise value | $54.32B | $52.71B | $45.48B | $41.22B | $40.73B | $31.32B | $28.23B | $23.47B | $22.23B | $15.57B |
| P/E ratio | 41.6 | 71.9 | 50.5 | 40.9 | 57.7 | 132.1 | 42.4 | 35.9 | 32.5 | 49.1 |
| Price / sales | 4.7 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 5.8 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.6 |
| Price / book | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 5.1 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.1 |
| Price / free cash flow | 36.9 | 37.8 | 32.3 | 30.8 | 37.4 | 36.4 | 27.5 | 22.7 | 26.5 | 26.9 |
| Price / operating cash flow | 18.6 | 19.9 | 18.1 | 16.9 | 21.0 | 19.2 | 15.6 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 15.2 |
| EV / sales | 5.7 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 6.6 | 5.8 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.6 |
| EV / EBITDA | 18.1 | 22.1 | 19.4 | 18.9 | 21.5 | 19.6 | 17.6 | 15.1 | 16.1 | 15.0 |
| EV / free cash flow | 44.5 | 44.9 | 38.1 | 37.1 | 42.7 | 42.1 | 32.3 | 27.1 | 31.4 | 34.6 |
| Earnings yield | 2.4% | 1.4% | 2.0% | 2.4% | 1.7% | 0.8% | 2.4% | 2.8% | 3.1% | 2.0% |
| Free cash flow yield | 2.7% | 2.6% | 3.1% | 3.2% | 2.7% | 2.8% | 3.6% | 4.4% | 3.8% | 3.7% |
| Dividend yield | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.8% |
| Shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) | 1.9% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1.1% | 0.7% | 1.1% | 0.8% | 0.9% |
| Share price at fiscal year-end | $175.36 | $171.58 | $149.27 | $132.56 | $136.27 | $102.57 | $90.79 | $74.25 | $70.94 | $52.39 |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| Revenue per share | $37.05 | $34.48 | $31.07 | $27.95 | $23.50 | $20.65 | $20.37 | $18.62 | $17.52 | $14.61 |
| Earnings per share | $4.21 | $2.39 | $2.95 | $3.24 | $2.36 | $0.78 | $2.14 | $2.07 | $2.18 | $1.07 |
| Operating cash flow per share | $9.41 | $8.62 | $8.24 | $7.84 | $6.49 | $5.34 | $5.82 | $5.34 | $4.49 | $3.44 |
| Free cash flow per share | $4.76 | $4.53 | $4.62 | $4.30 | $3.64 | $2.82 | $3.31 | $3.27 | $2.68 | $1.95 |
| Cash per share | $0.18 | $0.24 | $0.30 | $0.30 | $0.56 | $2.34 | $1.24 | $1.21 | $1.64 | $0.67 |
| Book value per share | $32.09 | $30.39 | $29.80 | $27.55 | $26.70 | $26.01 | $26.21 | $24.41 | $23.72 | $24.44 |
| Tangible book value per share | −$8.38 | −$8.05 | −$5.09 | −$5.69 | −$2.10 | −$0.09 | $0.98 | $1.11 | $1.89 | $0.82 |
| Dividends per share | $1.30 | $1.17 | $1.05 | $0.94 | $0.84 | $0.76 | $0.66 | $0.58 | $0.50 | $0.40 |
| Capex per share | $4.66 | $4.08 | $3.62 | $3.54 | $2.84 | $2.52 | $2.52 | $2.07 | $1.81 | $1.49 |
| Debt per share | $36.63 | $32.45 | $27.20 | $27.51 | $19.92 | $18.56 | $17.18 | $15.72 | $14.80 | $15.66 |
| Shares outstanding | 256.5M | 258.7M | 258.1M | 258.0M | 261.7M | 263.7M | 264.5M | 264.4M | 264.3M | 231.1M |
| Change in shares outstanding | −0.8% | +0.2% | +0.0% | −1.4% | −0.7% | −0.3% | +0.0% | +0.0% | +14.4% | +24.7% |
| Returns & profitability | ||||||||||
| Return on equity (ROE) | 13.4% | 7.9% | 10.3% | 11.9% | 8.9% | 3.0% | 8.5% | 8.6% | 9.7% | 6.5% |
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | 7.7% | 5.6% | 6.7% | 7.6% | 7.2% | 3.0% | 6.3% | 6.4% | 6.7% | 4.7% |
| Return on assets (ROA) | 5.3% | 3.3% | 4.4% | 5.3% | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4.3% | 4.4% | 5.0% | 3.0% |
| Return on tangible assets | 10.0% | 6.3% | 8.6% | 9.8% | 8.6% | 2.9% | 8.0% | 8.5% | 9.2% | 4.4% |
| Free cash flow margin | 12.8% | 13.2% | 14.9% | 15.4% | 15.5% | 13.7% | 16.2% | 17.6% | 15.3% | 13.3% |
| Income quality (OCF / net income) | 2.23 | 3.61 | 2.79 | 2.42 | 2.75 | 6.88 | 2.72 | 2.58 | 2.06 | 3.23 |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Total debt | $9.40B | $8.39B | $7.02B | $7.10B | $5.21B | $4.89B | $4.54B | $4.16B | $3.91B | $3.62B |
| Cash & short-term investments | $45.9M | $62.4M | $78.4M | $78.6M | $147.4M | $617.3M | $326.7M | $319.3M | $433.8M | $154.4M |
| Net debt | $9.35B | $8.33B | $6.94B | $7.02B | $5.07B | $4.28B | $4.22B | $3.84B | $3.48B | $3.46B |
| Debt / equity | 1.14 | 1.07 | 0.91 | 1.00 | 0.75 | 0.71 | 0.66 | 0.64 | 0.62 | 0.64 |
| Debt / assets | 0.44 | 0.42 | 0.39 | 0.41 | 0.35 | 0.35 | 0.33 | 0.33 | 0.33 | 0.33 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.11 | 3.49 | 2.96 | 3.21 | 2.68 | 2.68 | 2.63 | 2.47 | 2.52 | 3.35 |
| Current ratio | 0.62 | 0.65 | 0.68 | 0.74 | 0.84 | 1.37 | 1.12 | 1.23 | 1.47 | 1.07 |
| Quick ratio | 0.58 | 0.62 | 0.64 | 0.70 | 0.80 | 1.33 | 1.13 | 1.24 | 1.46 | 0.94 |
| Interest coverage | 5.2 | 3.7 | 4.8 | 6.2 | 5.7 | 2.3 | 5.9 | 6.6 | 4.9 | 5.3 |
| Working capital | −$811.2M | −$651.9M | −$546.1M | −$395.0M | −$200.0M | $379.6M | $123.4M | $206.1M | $374.3M | $51.2M |
| Invested capital | $17.58B | $16.19B | $14.64B | $14.13B | $12.06B | $11.14B | $11.15B | $10.29B | $9.75B | $9.11B |
| Tangible asset value | −$2.15B | −$2.08B | −$1.31B | −$1.46B | −$544.7M | −$18.3M | $264.4M | $299.9M | $504.9M | $108.3M |
| Net current asset value | −$11.69B | −$10.73B | −$9.08B | −$8.90B | −$6.67B | −$5.72B | −$5.67B | −$5.07B | −$4.56B | −$4.79B |
| Graham number | $55.15 | $40.40 | $44.51 | $44.80 | $37.67 | $21.31 | $35.55 | $33.71 | $34.13 | $24.22 |
| Graham net-net per share | −$47.23 | −$43.03 | −$36.59 | −$35.87 | −$26.59 | −$22.69 | −$22.59 | −$20.41 | −$18.50 | −$21.52 |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Dividends paid | $333.8M | $302.3M | $270.6M | $243.0M | $220.2M | $199.9M | $175.1M | $152.6M | $132.0M | $92.5M |
| Share buybacks (net) | $505.5M | $0 | $31.0M | $425.0M | $339.0M | $105.7M | $0 | $58.9M | $14.0M | $11.5M |
| Dividend payout ratio | 30.9% | 48.9% | 35.5% | 29.1% | 35.6% | 97.7% | 30.9% | 27.9% | 22.9% | 37.5% |
| Dividends + buybacks / free cash flow | 68.8% | 25.8% | 25.3% | 60.2% | 58.6% | 41.1% | 20.0% | 24.4% | 20.6% | 23.1% |
| Capex / revenue | 12.6% | 11.8% | 11.6% | 12.7% | 12.1% | 12.2% | 12.4% | 11.1% | 10.4% | 10.2% |
| Capex / operating cash flow | 49.5% | 47.4% | 43.9% | 45.1% | 43.8% | 47.2% | 43.2% | 38.7% | 40.4% | 43.3% |
| Capex / depreciation | 0.97 | 0.91 | 0.93 | 0.99 | 0.92 | 0.88 | 0.90 | 0.80 | 0.76 | 0.74 |
| Stock-based compensation / revenue | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1.3% |
| SG&A / revenue | 10.1% | 9.6% | 9.6% | 9.3% | 9.6% | 9.9% | 10.1% | 10.8% | 11.1% | 14.2% |
| Efficiency | ||||||||||
| Days sales outstanding | 39.2 | 38.0 | 40.1 | 41.7 | 43.1 | 45.0 | 43.1 | 43.2 | 41.0 | 40.0 |
| Days of inventory on hand | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 1.9 | -0.8 | -0.6 | 6.6 | 13.5 |
| Days payables outstanding | 44.1 | 45.0 | 49.3 | 43.4 | 34.1 | 40.5 | 45.5 | 44.0 | 39.3 | 34.2 |
| Cash conversion cycle (days) | -0.2 | -2.3 | -4.7 | 2.5 | 13.0 | 6.4 | -3.2 | -1.4 | 8.3 | 19.4 |
| Receivables turnover | 9.32 | 9.60 | 9.11 | 8.75 | 8.48 | 8.11 | 8.47 | 8.46 | 8.91 | 9.12 |
| Payables turnover | 8.28 | 8.11 | 7.41 | 8.41 | 10.69 | 9.00 | 8.03 | 8.30 | 9.30 | 10.68 |
| Inventory turnover | 77.40 | 78.17 | 81.20 | 87.20 | 90.24 | 193.41 | — | — | 55.70 | 26.96 |
| Asset turnover | 0.46 | 0.47 | 0.46 | 0.45 | 0.43 | 0.39 | 0.41 | 0.40 | 0.40 | 0.42 |
| Average receivables | $1.02B | $928.9M | $881.0M | $823.9M | $725.6M | $671.6M | $636.2M | $582.0M | $519.8M | $370.2M |
| Average payables | $700.6M | $639.9M | $640.6M | $515.8M | $341.8M | $363.9M | $398.5M | $345.2M | $290.9M | $183.2M |
| Average inventory | $74.9M | $66.4M | $58.4M | $49.7M | $40.5M | $16.9M | −$6.8M | −$4.6M | $48.6M | $72.6M |
| Intangibles / total assets | 48.9% | 50.2% | 50.3% | 50.1% | 51.3% | 49.2% | 48.6% | 48.8% | 48.0% | 49.1% |
Computed from WCN's annual financial statements (latest annual report filed February 12, 2026) and the closing share price on each fiscal year-end, adjusted for stock splits. Figures in U.S. dollars; data from EODHD. Averages use the opening and closing balance of each year.
WCN valuation and financial ratios
At the end of fiscal 2025 (December 31, 2025), Waste Connections traded at 41.6 times earnings, against a 10-year median of 45.7. Based on the latest twelve months, the trailing P/E is 40.6 and the forward P/E is 18.1. Waste Connections earned a return on equity of 13.4% and a return on invested capital of 7.7% in fiscal 2025. It ended the year with $9.4 billion of debt and $45.9 million in cash and short-term investments, net debt of $9.3 billion. It returned $839.3 million to shareholders: $333.8 million in dividends and $505.5 million in share buybacks, 69% of free cash flow. The share count rose 11.0% from 231.1M to 256.5M over 9 years.
See the WCN income statement, the WCN chart for price history, or the WCN stock overview for the latest quote and news.
WCN key metrics FAQ
What is Waste Connections's P/E ratio?
Waste Connections's trailing P/E ratio is 40.6 based on the last twelve months of earnings (as of October 18, 2026), and its forward P/E is 18.1. At the end of fiscal 2025 it was 41.6, compared with a 10-year median of 45.7.
What is Waste Connections's EV/EBITDA?
Waste Connections's enterprise value was 18.1 times EBITDA at the end of fiscal 2025 (enterprise value $54.3 billion, EBITDA $3.0 billion); the current EV/EBITDA is 16.2.
What is Waste Connections's return on equity?
Waste Connections's return on equity (ROE) was 13.4% in fiscal 2025: net income of $1.1 billion on average shareholders' equity of $8.0 billion.
What is Waste Connections's ROIC?
Waste Connections's return on invested capital was 7.7% in fiscal 2025, using after-tax operating income divided by average debt plus equity minus cash.
How much debt does Waste Connections have?
Waste Connections had total debt of $9.4 billion at the end of fiscal 2025, a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14 and $9.3 billion of net debt (3.11 times EBITDA).
What is Waste Connections's dividend yield?
Waste Connections's forward dividend yield is 0.83%. Waste Connections paid $333.8 million in dividends in fiscal 2025 ($1.30 per share), a payout ratio of 30.9%.
Does Waste Connections buy back its shares?
Yes. Waste Connections spent $505.5 million on net share repurchases in fiscal 2025 Shares outstanding changed −0.8% over the year, to 256.5M..
What is Waste Connections's free cash flow yield?
Waste Connections generated $1.2 billion of free cash flow in fiscal 2025, a free cash flow yield of 2.7% on its market value at year-end ($45.0 billion).
What is Waste Connections's current ratio?
Waste Connections's current ratio was 0.62 at the end of fiscal 2025: current assets were 0.62 times current liabilities.