GFL Environmental (NYSE:GFL) & Perma-Fix Environmental Services (NASDAQ:PESI) Head-To-Head Contrast

Perma-Fix Environmental Services (NASDAQ:PESI) and GFL Environmental (NYSE:GFL) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

25.5% of Perma-Fix Environmental Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.7% of GFL Environmental shares are held by institutional investors. 8.4% of Perma-Fix Environmental Services shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.7% of GFL Environmental shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Perma-Fix Environmental Services and GFL Environmental”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Perma-Fix Environmental Services	$61.67 million	4.53	-$13.78 million	($1.13)	-11.64
GFL Environmental	$4.73 billion	3.51	$2.74 billion	($0.79)	-58.31

GFL Environmental has higher revenue and earnings than Perma-Fix Environmental Services. GFL Environmental is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Perma-Fix Environmental Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Perma-Fix Environmental Services has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GFL Environmental has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Perma-Fix Environmental Services and GFL Environmental’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Perma-Fix Environmental Services	-37.04%	-35.46%	-20.22%
GFL Environmental	-4.93%	4.39%	1.60%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Perma-Fix Environmental Services and GFL Environmental, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Perma-Fix Environmental Services	1	1	0	0	1.50
GFL Environmental	2	3	11	0	2.56

GFL Environmental has a consensus target price of $57.60, indicating a potential upside of 25.04%. Given GFL Environmental’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe GFL Environmental is more favorable than Perma-Fix Environmental Services.

Summary

GFL Environmental beats Perma-Fix Environmental Services on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Perma-Fix Environmental Services

Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an environmental and technology know-how company in the United States. The company through Treatment and Services segments. The Treatment segment offers nuclear, low-level radioactive, mixed waste, hazardous and non-hazardous waste treatment, and processing and disposal services through treatment and storage facilities. This segment is also involved in the research and development activities to identify, develop, and implement waste processing techniques for problematic waste streams. The Services segment provides technical services, including professional radiological measurement and site survey of government and commercial installations; health physics services; integrated occupational safety and health services; and consulting, engineering, project and waste management, environmental, decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) field, technical and management personnel and services; and waste management services. This segment also offers nuclear services, including D&D of government and commercial facilities, including engineering, technology applications, specialty services, logistics, transportation, processing, and disposal; and license termination support, such as project management, planning, characterization, waste stream identification and delineation, remediation/demolition, compliance demonstration, final status survey, reporting, transportation, disposal and emergency response. In addition, it maintains, services, maintains, calibrates, and sources health physics, IH and customized nuclear, environmental, and occupational safety and health instruments. The company provides its services to research institutions, commercial companies, public utilities, and governmental agencies through direct sales to customers or through intermediaries. Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About GFL Environmental

GFL Environmental Inc. offers non-hazardous solid waste management and environmental services in Canada and the United States. It offers solid waste management, liquid waste management, and soil remediation services, including collection, transportation, transfer, recycling, and disposal services for municipal, residential, and commercial, and industrial customers. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Vaughan, Canada.