Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) and Fluor (NYSE:FLR) are both mid-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Ameresco and Fluor, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Ameresco | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Fluor | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.20 |
Ameresco presently has a consensus target price of $60.00, suggesting a potential upside of 23.41%. Fluor has a consensus target price of $15.50, suggesting a potential downside of 31.11%. Given Ameresco's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Ameresco is more favorable than Fluor.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Ameresco and Fluor's revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Ameresco | $866.93 million | 2.86 | $44.44 million | $0.83 | 58.88 |
| Fluor | $14.35 billion | 0.22 | $-1,522,160,000.00 | $2.99 | 7.53 |
Ameresco has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Fluor. Fluor is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ameresco, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Ameresco and Fluor's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Ameresco | 5.15% | 12.88% | 3.90% |
| Fluor | -3.63% | 10.56% | 1.89% |
Risk & Volatility
Ameresco has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fluor has a beta of 2.85, meaning that its stock price is 185% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
39.7% of Ameresco shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.6% of Fluor shares are held by institutional investors. 51.1% of Ameresco shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Fluor shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Ameresco beats Fluor on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
