Head to Head Contrast: Meren Energy (OTCMKTS:AOIFF) vs. Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO)

Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) and Meren Energy (OTCMKTS:AOIFF) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Gevo and Meren Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gevo	$120.93 million	3.45	-$78.64 million	($0.20)	-8.60
Meren Energy	N/A	N/A	-$279.10 million	($0.52)	-3.05

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Gevo and Meren Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gevo	1	2	2	0	2.20
Meren Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00

Gevo presently has a consensus price target of $6.42, indicating a potential upside of 273.06%. Given Gevo’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Gevo is more favorable than Meren Energy.

Risk & Volatility

Gevo has a beta of 1.49, suggesting that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Meren Energy has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Gevo and Meren Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gevo	-37.33%	-9.49%	-6.82%
Meren Energy	N/A	3.52%	1.68%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

35.2% of Gevo shares are held by institutional investors. 6.8% of Gevo shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Meren Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Gevo beats Meren Energy on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gevo

Gevo, Inc. operates as a carbon abatement company. It operates through three segments: Gevo, Agri-Energy, and Renewable Natural Gas. The company focuses on transforming renewable energy into energy-dense liquid hydrocarbons that can be used as renewable fuels. It offers renewable gasoline and diesel, isobutanol, sustainable aviation fuel, renewable natural gas, isobutylene, ethanol, and animal feed and protein. The company was formerly known as Methanotech, Inc. and changed its name to Gevo, Inc. in March 2006. Gevo, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.

About Meren Energy

Africa Oil Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an oil and gas exploration and production company in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. The company holds interests in producing and development assets in deep-water Nigeria, and development assets in Kenya. It also has a portfolio of exploration and appraisal assets in Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, as well as Guyana and Senegal Guinea Bissau Joint Development Zone. The company was formerly known as Canmex Minerals Corporation and changed its name to Africa Oil Corp. in August 2007. Africa Oil Corp. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.