Head-To-Head Review: Energy Vault (NYSE:NRGV) versus Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC)

Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC) and Energy Vault (NYSE:NRGV) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.2% of Ameresco shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.0% of Energy Vault shares are held by institutional investors. 45.0% of Ameresco shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.2% of Energy Vault shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Ameresco and Energy Vault’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameresco	1.59%	3.33%	0.82%
Energy Vault	-52.97%	-144.72%	-40.88%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Ameresco and Energy Vault, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ameresco	2	3	7	0	2.42
Energy Vault	3	0	2	0	1.80

Ameresco presently has a consensus price target of $42.11, suggesting a potential upside of 27.57%. Energy Vault has a consensus price target of $5.02, suggesting a potential downside of 15.34%. Given Ameresco’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ameresco is more favorable than Energy Vault.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ameresco	$1.98 billion	0.88	$44.28 million	$0.58	56.91
Energy Vault	$203.67 million	5.03	-$103.61 million	($0.71)	-8.35

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

Risk and Volatility

Ameresco has a beta of 2.55, suggesting that its stock price is 155% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Energy Vault has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ameresco beats Energy Vault on 13 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 Energy Vault

Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. develops and sells energy storage solutions. The company offers B-Vault, an electrochemical battery energy storage systems for shorter-duration energy storage needs; G-Vault, a proprietary gravity energy storage solution, including EVx solution; and H-Vault, a hybrid energy storage systems including systems that integrate green hydrogen. Its software solutions includes Vault-OS, an energy management system the management of one or more diverse storage mediums; Vault-Bidder that utilizes machine learning algorithms to match node-specific data with real-time weather and asset performance information; and Vault-Manager which designs to safeguard asset management and to help blend developing technologies seamlessly into existing solutions. Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. is based in Westlake Village, California.