Sectors & IndustriesIndustrialsWaste Management

Best Waste Management Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top waste management stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +28.50% per year, and are the best waste management stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best waste management stocks to buy right now are:

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) is the #1 top waste management stock out of 22 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) has a Due Diligence Score of 47, which is 20 points higher than the waste management industry average of 27.

CLH passed 15 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Clean Harbors has seen its stock return 41.25% over the past year, overperforming other waste management stocks by 33 percentage points.

Clean Harbors has an average 1 year price target of $365.82, an upside of 24.09% from Clean Harbors's current stock price of $294.81.

Clean Harbors stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 12 analysts covering Clean Harbors, 41.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 41.67% have issued a Buy, 16.67% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) is the #2 top waste management stock out of 22 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: A, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) has a Due Diligence Score of 38, which is 11 points higher than the waste management industry average of 27.

WCN passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Waste Connections has seen its stock return 12.61% over the past year, overperforming other waste management stocks by 4 percentage points.

Waste Connections has an average 1 year price target of $202.92, an upside of 8.71% from Waste Connections's current stock price of $186.66.

Waste Connections stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 12 analysts covering Waste Connections, 41.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 41.67% have issued a Buy, 16.67% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) is the #3 top waste management stock out of 22 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Waste Management (NYSE:WM) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) has a Due Diligence Score of 49, which is 22 points higher than the waste management industry average of 27.

WM passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Waste Management has seen its stock return 19.26% over the past year, overperforming other waste management stocks by 11 percentage points.

Waste Management has an average 1 year price target of $255.73, an upside of 8.97% from Waste Management's current stock price of $234.67.

Waste Management stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 12 analysts covering Waste Management, 41.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 8.33% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 6 waste management stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 waste management stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

American Resources (NASDAQ:AREC) has an annual dividend yield of 4.05%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the waste management industry average of 1.42%.

American Resources's dividend payout ratio of 0% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) has an annual dividend yield of 1.56%, which is the same as the waste management industry average of 1.42%. Waste Management's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Waste Management's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Waste Management's dividend payout ratio of 47.8% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Janus Living (NYSE:JAN) has an annual dividend yield of 1.18%, which is the same as the waste management industry average of 1.42%.

Waste management stocks were down -0.7% in the last day, and down -0.15% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why waste management stocks are down.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued waste management stocks right now are:

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) is the most undervalued waste management stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Waste Management has a valuation score of 29, which is 6 points higher than the waste management industry average of 23. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Waste Management's stock has gained 19.26% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the waste management industry by 11 percentage points.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) is the second most undervalued waste management stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Clean Harbors has a valuation score of 43, which is 20 points higher than the waste management industry average of 23. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Clean Harbors's stock has gained 41.25% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the waste management industry by 33 percentage points.

Lanzatech Global (NASDAQ:LNZA) is the third most undervalued waste management stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Lanzatech Global has a valuation score of 43, which is 20 points higher than the waste management industry average of 23. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Lanzatech Global's stock has dropped -75.74% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the waste management industry by -84 percentage points.

50% of waste management stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect waste management stocks to rise by 12.78% over the next year.

6.25% of waste management stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 0% of waste management stocks are rated B (Buy), 56.25% are rated C (Hold), 18.75% are rated D (Sell), and 18.75% are rated F (Strong Sell).