Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $11.63, but opened at $14.00. Ameresco shares last traded at $13.60, with a volume of 422,022 shares traded.

The utilities provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.15. The company had revenue of $352.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.71 million. Ameresco had a return on equity of 5.68% and a net margin of 3.18%. The company’s revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.10) earnings per share.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMRC shares. Baird R W downgraded Ameresco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group lowered shares of Ameresco from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $37.00 to $8.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down previously from $25.00) on shares of Ameresco in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler set a $21.00 price target on Ameresco and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Ameresco from $34.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameresco

In other Ameresco news, CEO George P. Sakellaris bought 50,000 shares of Ameresco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.96 per share, for a total transaction of $498,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 903,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,000,234.48. The trade was a 5.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Francis V. Wisneski, Jr. bought 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $9.67 per share, for a total transaction of $33,845.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,526.46. This represents a 24.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 80,808 shares of company stock valued at $785,274 in the last 90 days. 42.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameresco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameresco by 87.7% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 421,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,888,000 after buying an additional 196,776 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ameresco by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,184,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,767,000 after purchasing an additional 37,359 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Ameresco by 204.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 59,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,248,000 after purchasing an additional 39,773 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ameresco by 96.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 45,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 22,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ameresco by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 321,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,560,000 after purchasing an additional 73,928 shares during the last quarter. 99.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameresco Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $10.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $660.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 2.20.

Ameresco Company Profile

Ameresco, Inc, a clean technology integrator, provides a portfolio of energy efficiency and renewable energy supply solutions in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. It operates through U.S. Regions, U.S. Federal, Canada, Europe, Alternative Fuels, and All Other segments. The company offers energy efficiency, infrastructure upgrades, energy security and resilience, asset sustainability, and renewable energy solutions for businesses and organizations.