Contrasting Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) & Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ:STRL)

Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) and Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ:STRL) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Ameresco and Sterling Infrastructure’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameresco	2.01%	4.68%	1.27%
Sterling Infrastructure	12.85%	45.97%	19.94%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Ameresco and Sterling Infrastructure, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ameresco	1	5	6	2	2.64
Sterling Infrastructure	0	2	7	0	2.78

Ameresco presently has a consensus target price of $40.71, indicating a potential upside of 53.25%. Sterling Infrastructure has a consensus target price of $709.14, indicating a potential upside of 133.39%. Given Sterling Infrastructure’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sterling Infrastructure is more favorable than Ameresco.

Risk and Volatility

Ameresco has a beta of 2.5, meaning that its stock price is 150% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sterling Infrastructure has a beta of 1.97, meaning that its stock price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.2% of Ameresco shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.9% of Sterling Infrastructure shares are owned by institutional investors. 45.1% of Ameresco shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Sterling Infrastructure shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ameresco	$2.08 billion	0.68	$44.28 million	$0.76	34.96
Sterling Infrastructure	$4.31 billion	2.15	$290.15 million	$17.82	17.05

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

Summary

Sterling Infrastructure beats Ameresco on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ameresco

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.

About Sterling Infrastructure

Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ: STRL) is a U.S.-based construction company that delivers infrastructure and building services through its E-Infrastructure Solutions, Transportation Solutions and Building Solutions segments. E-Infrastructure Solutions provides site development and related services for data centers, manufacturing facilities, distribution centers and other large-scale projects. Transportation Solutions builds and improves public infrastructure, including roads and bridges, while Building Solutions focuses on concrete foundations and other construction services for residential and commercial customers.