Contrasting ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ) & TOMI Environmental Solutions (NASDAQ:TOMZ)

TOMI Environmental Solutions (NASDAQ:TOMZ) and ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

TOMI Environmental Solutions has a beta of 1.56, meaning that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ARQ has a beta of 1.98, meaning that its share price is 98% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for TOMI Environmental Solutions and ARQ, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TOMI Environmental Solutions	1	1	1	0	2.00
ARQ	2	0	2	1	2.40

TOMI Environmental Solutions currently has a consensus price target of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 347.00%. ARQ has a consensus price target of $9.00, indicating a potential upside of 152.81%. Given TOMI Environmental Solutions’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe TOMI Environmental Solutions is more favorable than ARQ.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares TOMI Environmental Solutions and ARQ”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TOMI Environmental Solutions	$7.74 million	2.05	-$4.48 million	($0.25)	-3.13
ARQ	$108.96 million	1.39	-$5.11 million	($0.10)	-35.60

TOMI Environmental Solutions has higher earnings, but lower revenue than ARQ. ARQ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than TOMI Environmental Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares TOMI Environmental Solutions and ARQ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TOMI Environmental Solutions	-91.40%	-91.39%	-32.35%
ARQ	-3.33%	-1.11%	-0.86%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

4.8% of TOMI Environmental Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.5% of ARQ shares are held by institutional investors. 23.5% of TOMI Environmental Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.9% of ARQ shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

ARQ beats TOMI Environmental Solutions on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TOMI Environmental Solutions

TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc., a bacteria decontamination and infectious disease control company, engages in the provision of environmental solutions for indoor air and surface disinfection and decontamination in the United States and internationally. The company’s disinfection solutions include SteraPak portable disinfection systems, SteraMist select surface units, SteraMist environment systems, SteraMist total disinfection carts, SteraMist transport units, NV+ fogging disinfection and decontamination systems, SteraMist custom engineered systems, SteraMist Hybrid disinfection systems, SteraMist integrated systems, Stainless Steel 90-Degree applicators, SteraMist plasma decontamination chambers, and iHP Corporate Service Decontamination, which provides full room, equipment, facility, and emergency disinfection and decontamination services. It also manufactures, sells, services, and licenses SteraMist Binary Ionization Technology, a hydrogen peroxide-based mist and fog. The company’s products and services are used in hospitals and medical facilities, bio-safety labs, pharmaceutical facilities, meat and produce processing facilities, universities and research facilities, vivarium labs, and other service industries, including cruise ships, office buildings, hotel and motel rooms, schools, restaurants, military barracks, police and fire departments, prisons, and athletic facilities; and single-family homes and multi-unit residences. TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc. was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Frederick, Maryland.

About ARQ

Arq, Inc. is a holding company. It engages in the provision of environmental and emission control equipment to the power generation industry. The company operates through the following Segments: Refined Coal and Advanced Purification Technologies. The Refined Coal segment includes the Tinuum Group, Tinuum Services, and GWN Manager. The Advanced Purification Technologies segment refers to the sale of Activated Carbon Injection and Dry Sorbent Injection equipment systems, chemical sales, consulting services, and other sales related to the reduction of emissions in the coal-fired electric generation process and the electric utility industry. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO.