Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) from a strong sell rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday,Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Ameresco from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ameresco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird downgraded Ameresco from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Ameresco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ameresco from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameresco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.71.

Ameresco Stock Performance

Shares of Ameresco stock opened at $26.57 on Tuesday. Ameresco has a fifty-two week low of $18.09 and a fifty-two week high of $37.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 2.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $21.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.14.

Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.31. Ameresco had a return on equity of 4.68% and a net margin of 2.01%. The company had revenue of $580.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $572.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameresco will post 1.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ameresco

In other news, Director Jennifer Miller bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.96 per share, with a total value of $41,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $724,084.16. This represents a 6.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Brian Cox acquired 4,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.64 per share, with a total value of $100,085.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 44,325 shares in the company, valued at $959,193. The trade was a 11.65% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 29,325 shares of company stock valued at $628,664 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameresco

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Ameresco by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,439,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,711,000 after buying an additional 167,068 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Ameresco by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 857,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,680,000 after buying an additional 42,826 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Ameresco by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,100,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,784,000 after buying an additional 101,982 shares during the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC increased its stake in Ameresco by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 896,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,565,000 after purchasing an additional 69,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameresco by 8.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 225,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,754,000 after purchasing an additional 17,696 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.24% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Ameresco

Here are a few of the latest headlines about AMRC:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results beat expectations: EPS was $0.88 versus $0.57 expected, while revenue rose 10.3% year over year to $580.3 million, topping estimates.
• Positive Sentiment: Canaccord and Stifel maintained Buy ratings despite modestly reducing their price targets; Cantor Fitzgerald also kept its Buy rating. Cantor Fitzgerald rating
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 revenue guidance of $625 million–$650 million has a midpoint slightly below the $639.2 million consensus estimate, and Stifel and Canaccord each lowered their price targets by $1 while retaining Buy ratings.

Ameresco Company Profile

Ameresco, Inc. is a clean-energy and energy-efficiency company that develops, designs, builds, and operates projects for public- and private-sector customers. Its clients include federal, state and local government agencies, schools, healthcare organizations, utilities, and commercial and industrial businesses. The company’s services include improving the energy performance of buildings and infrastructure, developing renewable-energy projects, and providing distributed energy systems, microgrids, energy storage, and related operations and maintenance.