Contrasting Aemetis (NASDAQ:AMTX) and SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) and Aemetis (NASDAQ:AMTX) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SM Energy	$3.15 billion	2.91	$648.00 million	$5.08	7.59
Aemetis	$197.63 million	0.57	-$77.00 million	($0.91)	-1.71

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SM Energy	18.20%	17.93%	7.70%
Aemetis	-27.37%	N/A	-26.60%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.6% of SM Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.0% of Aemetis shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of SM Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.0% of Aemetis shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for SM Energy and Aemetis, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SM Energy	0	5	10	2	2.82
Aemetis	1	0	1	0	2.00

SM Energy presently has a consensus target price of $39.81, indicating a potential upside of 3.29%. Aemetis has a consensus target price of $11.88, indicating a potential upside of 661.22%. Given Aemetis’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Aemetis is more favorable than SM Energy.

Volatility & Risk

SM Energy has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aemetis has a beta of 1.82, meaning that its share price is 82% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

SM Energy beats Aemetis on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids in the state of Texas. It has working interests in oil and gas producing wells in the Midland Basin and South Texas. The company was formerly known as St. Mary Land & Exploration Company and changed its name to SM Energy Company in May 2010. SM Energy Company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

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.