Head to Head Comparison: Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ:STRL) vs. Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC)

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

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	1.40%	2.82%	0.72%
Sterling Infrastructure	12.85%	45.97%	19.94%

Risk and Volatility

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

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ameresco	$1.93 billion	0.59	$44.28 million	$0.52	41.48
Sterling Infrastructure	$2.49 billion	3.10	$290.15 million	$17.82	14.19

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.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.2% of Ameresco shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.9% of Sterling Infrastructure shares are held by institutional investors. 45.1% of Ameresco shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Sterling Infrastructure shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Ameresco and Sterling Infrastructure, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ameresco	2	5	6	1	2.43
Sterling Infrastructure	0	2	6	0	2.75

Ameresco currently has a consensus target price of $41.00, suggesting a potential upside of 90.06%. Sterling Infrastructure has a consensus target price of $729.83, suggesting a potential upside of 188.68%. Given Sterling Infrastructure’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Sterling Infrastructure is more favorable than Ameresco.

Summary

Sterling Infrastructure beats Ameresco on 9 of the 14 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 Sterling Infrastructure

Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. engages in the provision of e-infrastructure, transportation, and building solutions primarily in the United States. It operates through three segments: E-Infrastructure Solutions, Transportation Solutions, and Building Solutions. The E-Infrastructure Solutions segment provides site development services for the blue-chip end users in the e-commerce distribution center, data center, manufacturing, warehousing, and power generation sectors. The Transportation Solutions segment is involved in the development of infrastructure and rehabilitation projects for highways, roads, bridges, airports, ports, rail, and storm drainage systems for the departments of transportation in various states, regional transit authorities, airport authorities, port authorities, water authorities, and railroads. The Building Solutions segment provides residential and commercial concrete foundations for single-family and multi-family homes, parking structures, elevated slabs, other concrete work for developers and general contractors, as well as provides plumbing services for residential builds. The company was formerly known as Sterling Construction Company, Inc. and changed its name to Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. in June 2022. Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.