Critical Analysis: ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ) vs. ESGL (NASDAQ:ESGL)

ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ) and ESGL (NASDAQ:ESGL) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares ARQ and ESGL’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ARQ	-3.33%	-1.11%	-0.86%
ESGL	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk & Volatility

ARQ has a beta of 1.97, indicating that its share price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ESGL has a beta of 1.44, indicating that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ARQ and ESGL”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ARQ	$108.96 million	1.36	-$5.11 million	($0.10)	-34.60
ESGL	$6.10 million	N/A	-$630,000.00	N/A	N/A

ESGL has lower revenue, but higher earnings than ARQ.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

18.5% of ARQ shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.9% of ARQ shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.4% of ESGL shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for ARQ and ESGL, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ARQ	1	1	2	1	2.60
ESGL	1	0	0	0	1.00

ARQ presently has a consensus price target of $8.75, indicating a potential upside of 152.89%. Given ARQ’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe ARQ is more favorable than ESGL.

Summary

ARQ beats ESGL on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ARQ

Arq, Inc. is a holding company. It engages in the provision of environmental and emission control equipment to the power generation industry. The company operates through the following Segments: Refined Coal and Advanced Purification Technologies. The Refined Coal segment includes the Tinuum Group, Tinuum Services, and GWN Manager. The Advanced Purification Technologies segment refers to the sale of Activated Carbon Injection and Dry Sorbent Injection equipment systems, chemical sales, consulting services, and other sales related to the reduction of emissions in the coal-fired electric generation process and the electric utility industry. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO.

About ESGL

ESGL Holdings Limited provides waste solutions. It regenerates industrial waste into circular products using technologies and renewable energy. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Singapore.