Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) Price Target Lowered to $28.00 at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group cut its price target on Ameresco from $40 to $28 and kept a "neutral" rating.
• AMRC stock fell about 5.9% to $24.73 on Friday, trading below UBS's new target and the consensus analyst target of $39, with 50‑ and 200‑day moving averages near $30.94 and $32.32.
• Analyst views are mixed — several firms raised targets to $47–$50 and maintain "buy/overweight" ratings while others cut to "sell," and a director recently sold 15,700 shares, trimming insider holdings.

Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at UBS Group from $40.00 to $28.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the utilities provider's stock. UBS Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.24% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on shares of Ameresco from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Ameresco from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Ameresco in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Ameresco from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Ameresco from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Ameresco Stock Down 5.9%

AMRC stock traded down $1.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.73. 644,029 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 508,268. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.32. Ameresco has a 12 month low of $8.49 and a 12 month high of $44.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 2.53.

Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $581.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $556.09 million. Ameresco had a net margin of 2.29% and a return on equity of 4.49%. The firm's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameresco will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameresco news, Director Nickolas Stavropoulos sold 15,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.15, for a total value of $536,155.00. Following the sale, the director owned 14,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $481,890.65. The trade was a 52.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 17,020 shares of company stock worth $577,840 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 44.96% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameresco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMRC. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Ameresco by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 679,355 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,319,000 after purchasing an additional 84,960 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Ameresco by 1,832.5% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,775,187 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,965,000 after buying an additional 1,683,326 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in shares of Ameresco by 318.2% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 107,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,620,000 after buying an additional 82,015 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Ameresco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,895,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Ameresco during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,300,000. 99.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ameresco

Ameresco, Inc is a leading independent provider of comprehensive energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions for businesses and governments across North America, Europe and other select markets. Its integrated services portfolio includes energy efficiency retrofits, infrastructure upgrades, distributed generation systems and facility-scale renewable projects. Leveraging performance-based contracting models, Ameresco designs, finances, installs and maintains energy improvements intended to reduce operational costs, mitigate environmental impact and enhance resiliency for its clients.

Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts, Ameresco has completed thousands of projects spanning solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, landfill gas‐to‐energy, energy storage and microgrid installations.

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