Head to Head Comparison: Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources (OTCMKTS:SENR) versus ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ)

Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources (OTCMKTS:SENR) and ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources has a beta of -1.98, suggesting that its stock price is 298% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ARQ has a beta of 1.99, suggesting that its stock price is 99% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources and ARQ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources	-37.60%	N/A	-139.50%
ARQ	-43.93%	-2.67%	-2.00%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources and ARQ”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources	$4.31 million	0.40	-$1.80 million	($0.03)	-0.87
ARQ	$120.34 million	0.98	-$52.61 million	($1.29)	-2.14

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

18.5% of ARQ shares are owned by institutional investors. 43.9% of Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.1% of ARQ 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources and ARQ, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources	0	0	0	0	0.00
ARQ	1	1	2	1	2.60

ARQ has a consensus target price of $7.50, suggesting a potential upside of 171.74%. Given ARQ’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ARQ is more favorable than Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources.

Summary

ARQ beats Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources

Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources, Inc. provides clean-technologies, waste management, and related services in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Environmental Solutions and Solid Waste. The company designs and sells H2SPlus and OdorFilter dry scrubber solutions for management of hydrogen sulfide in biogas, landfill gas, and petroleum processing operations; develops and designs proprietary technologies and systems for conditioning biogas for use as renewable natural gas for a range of applications, such as transportation fuel and natural gas pipeline injection; and develops waste destruction technology using pyrolytic heating process combined with non-thermal plasma assisted oxidation. In addition, it develops renewable natural gas projects; and advanced chemical absorbents and catalysts that enhance the capability of biogas produced from landfill, wastewater treatment, and agricultural digester operations, as well as offers soil amendment pellets. The company serves companies primarily in the oil and gas refineries, landfills, medical waste destruction operations, agricultural companies, and food and beverage companies, as well as other commercial and industrial customers. Strategic Environmental & Energy Resources, Inc. is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado.

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.