Reviewing Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) and OPAL Fuels (NASDAQ:OPAL)

OPAL Fuels (NASDAQ:OPAL) and Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for OPAL Fuels and Ameresco, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OPAL Fuels	2	3	0	0	1.60
Ameresco	2	4	7	0	2.38

OPAL Fuels presently has a consensus target price of $2.72, suggesting a potential upside of 25.77%. Ameresco has a consensus target price of $42.56, suggesting a potential upside of 33.73%. Given Ameresco’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ameresco is more favorable than OPAL Fuels.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares OPAL Fuels and Ameresco”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
OPAL Fuels	$348.98 million	1.07	$14.75 million	$0.07	30.86
Ameresco	$1.98 billion	0.85	$44.28 million	$0.58	54.86

Ameresco has higher revenue and earnings than OPAL Fuels. OPAL Fuels is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ameresco, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

12.2% of OPAL Fuels shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.2% of Ameresco shares are owned by institutional investors. 84.6% of OPAL Fuels shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 45.0% of Ameresco shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

OPAL Fuels has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameresco has a beta of 2.55, indicating that its stock price is 155% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares OPAL Fuels and Ameresco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OPAL Fuels	1.33%	-479.62%	0.47%
Ameresco	1.59%	3.33%	0.82%

Summary

Ameresco beats OPAL Fuels on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About OPAL Fuels

OPAL Fuels Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and distribution of renewable natural gas for use as a vehicle fuel for heavy and medium-duty trucking fleets. It also designs, develops, constructs, operates, and services fueling stations for trucking fleets that use natural gas to displace diesel as transportation fuel. In addition, it offers design, development, and construction services for hydrogen fueling stations. Further, the company engages in the generation and sale of renewable power to utilities. OPAL Fuels Inc. is based in White Plains, New York.

About Ameresco

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. It designs, develops, engineers, and installs projects that reduce the energy, as well as operations and maintenance (O&M) costs of its customers' facilities; and projects primarily include various measures customized for the facility and designed to enhance the efficiency of building systems, such as heating, ventilation, cooling, and lighting systems. In addition, the company offers renewable energy solutions and services, such as the construction of small-scale plants that the company owns or develops for customers that produce electricity, gas, heat, or cooling from renewable sources of energy and O&M services; and electricity, processed renewable gas fuel, and heat or cooling produced from renewable sources of energy. Further, the company sells photovoltaic (PV) solar energy products and systems, as well as provides consulting, and enterprise energy management services; and operates wind farms. It serves the federal, state, local governments, healthcare and educational institutions, airports, public housing authorities and public universities, municipal utilities, and commercial and industrial customers. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated 185 small-scale renewable energy plants and solar PV installations. Ameresco, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts.