Financial Contrast: Aemetis (NASDAQ:AMTX) and Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ:CLNE)

Aemetis (NASDAQ:AMTX) and Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ:CLNE) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

Aemetis has a beta of 1.48, suggesting that its stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clean Energy Fuels has a beta of 1.85, suggesting that its stock price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Aemetis and Clean Energy Fuels”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aemetis	$197.63 million	0.68	-$77.00 million	($0.91)	-2.04
Clean Energy Fuels	$424.83 million	0.83	-$222.02 million	($0.44)	-3.65

Aemetis has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Clean Energy Fuels. Clean Energy Fuels is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aemetis, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

27.0% of Aemetis shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.9% of Clean Energy Fuels shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.0% of Aemetis shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of Clean Energy Fuels shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Aemetis and Clean Energy Fuels’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aemetis	-27.37%	N/A	-26.60%
Clean Energy Fuels	-21.27%	-16.52%	-8.87%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Aemetis and Clean Energy Fuels, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aemetis	1	0	1	0	2.00
Clean Energy Fuels	1	2	0	1	2.25

Aemetis currently has a consensus price target of $11.88, suggesting a potential upside of 538.44%. Clean Energy Fuels has a consensus price target of $2.38, suggesting a potential upside of 48.49%. Given Aemetis’ higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Aemetis is more favorable than Clean Energy Fuels.

Summary

Clean Energy Fuels beats Aemetis on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aemetis

Aemetis, Inc. operates as a renewable natural gas and renewable fuels company. It operates through three segments: California Ethanol, California Dairy Renewable Natural Gas, and India Biodiesel. The company focuses on the operation, acquisition, development, and commercialization of technologies to produce low and negative carbon intensity renewable fuels that replace fossil-based products. In addition, it produces and sells ethanol; and wet distillers grains, distillers corn oil, and condensed distillers solubles to dairies and feedlots as animal feed. Further, the company markets and supplies USP alcohol and hand sanitizer; and produces renewable natural gas, as well as distilled biodiesel from various vegetable oil and animal waste feedstocks. Additionally, it researches and develops conversion technologies using waste feedstocks to produce biofuels and biochemicals. Furthermore, it sells biodiesel primarily to government oil marketing companies. Aemetis, Inc. is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

About Clean Energy Fuels

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. provides natural gas as alternative fuels for vehicle fleets and related fueling solutions in the United States and Canada. It supplies renewable natural gas (RNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for medium and heavy-duty vehicles; and offers operation and maintenance services for public and private vehicle fleet customer stations. The company also designs, builds, operates, and maintains vehicle fueling stations; and sells and services compressors and other equipment that are used in RNG production and fueling stations. In addition, it transports and sells CNG, RNG, and LNG through virtual natural gas pipelines and interconnects; sells U.S. federal, state, and local government credits, such as RNG as a vehicle fuel, including Renewable Identification Numbers and Low Carbon Fuel Standards credits; and obtains federal, state, and local credits, grants, and incentives. Further, the company focuses on developing, owning, and operating dairy and other livestock waste RNG projects. It serves heavy-duty trucking, airports, refuse, public transit, industrial, and institutional energy users, as well as government fleets. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.