Comparing Greenfire Resources (NYSE:GFR) and Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC)

Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) and Greenfire Resources (NYSE:GFR) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.2% of Ameresco shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.9% of Greenfire Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. 45.0% of Ameresco shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.0% of Greenfire Resources shares are owned 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Ameresco and Greenfire Resources, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ameresco	0	4	7	1	2.75
Greenfire Resources	1	1	0	0	1.50

Ameresco currently has a consensus target price of $37.70, indicating a potential upside of 13.62%. Given Ameresco’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Ameresco is more favorable than Greenfire Resources.

Profitability

This table compares Ameresco and Greenfire Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameresco	3.34%	6.97%	1.74%
Greenfire Resources	20.20%	15.64%	10.47%

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ameresco	$1.77 billion	0.99	$56.76 million	$1.19	27.88
Greenfire Resources	$600.67 million	0.59	$88.61 million	$1.35	3.77

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

Risk & Volatility

Ameresco has a beta of 2.51, suggesting that its share price is 151% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greenfire Resources has a beta of 0.29, suggesting that its share price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ameresco beats Greenfire Resources on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ameresco

Ameresco, Inc., a clean technology integrator, provides a portfolio of energy efficiency and renewable energy supply solutions in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. It operates through U.S. Regions, U.S. Federal, Canada, Europe, Alternative Fuels, and All Other segments. The company offers energy efficiency, infrastructure upgrades, energy security and resilience, asset sustainability, and renewable energy solutions for businesses and organizations. It designs, develops, engineers, and installs projects that reduce the energy, as well as operations and maintenance (O&M) costs of its customers' facilities; and projects primarily include various measures customized for the facility and designed to enhance the efficiency of building systems, such as heating, ventilation, cooling, and lighting systems. In addition, the company offers renewable energy solutions and services, such as the construction of small-scale plants that the company owns or develops for customers that produce electricity, gas, heat, or cooling from renewable sources of energy and O&M services; and electricity, processed renewable gas fuel, and heat or cooling produced from renewable sources of energy. Further, the company sells photovoltaic (PV) solar energy products and systems, as well as provides consulting, and enterprise energy management services; and operates wind farms. It serves the federal, state, local governments, healthcare and educational institutions, airports, public housing authorities and public universities, municipal utilities, and commercial and industrial customers. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated 185 small-scale renewable energy plants and solar PV installations. Ameresco, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts.

About Greenfire Resources

Greenfire Resources Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, exploration, and operation of oil and gas properties in the Athabasca oil sands region of Alberta. The company operates the Tier-1 oil sands assets located in Western Canada. It utilizes steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) extraction technology, a situ thermal oil recovery process to recover diluted and non- diluted bitumen. The company is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.