Analyzing REX American Resources Corporation (REX) and Aemetis (NASDAQ:AMTX)

REX American Resources Corporation (NYSE: REX) and Aemetis (NASDAQ:AMTX) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and profitabiliy.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for REX American Resources Corporation and Aemetis, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
REX American Resources Corporation	0	1	0	0	2.00
Aemetis	0	1	0	0	2.00

REX American Resources Corporation currently has a consensus price target of $94.50, indicating a potential downside of 1.43%. Aemetis has a consensus price target of $2.00, indicating a potential upside of 62.60%. Given Aemetis’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Aemetis is more favorable than REX American Resources Corporation.

Risk & Volatility

REX American Resources Corporation has a beta of 1.59, meaning that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aemetis has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares REX American Resources Corporation and Aemetis’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
REX American Resources Corporation	$466.72 million	1.35	$71.98 million	$5.17	18.54
Aemetis	$141.41 million	0.17	$700,999.00	($0.96)	-1.28

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

89.0% of REX American Resources Corporation shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.0% of Aemetis shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.7% of REX American Resources Corporation shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 24.1% of Aemetis shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares REX American Resources Corporation and Aemetis’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
REX American Resources Corporation	7.29%	8.96%	7.70%
Aemetis	-13.47%	N/A	-26.98%

Summary

REX American Resources Corporation beats Aemetis on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

REX American Resources Corporation Company Profile

Rex American Resources Corporation is a holding company. As of January 31, 2017, the Company had invested in three ethanol production entities. It operates through alternative energy segment. As of January 31, 2017, the Company’s ethanol investments include One Earth Energy, LLC (One Earth), NuGen Energy, LLC (NuGen) and Big River Resources, LLC (Big River). One Earth has its ethanol production facility in Gibson City, Illinois. NuGen operates an ethanol producing facility in Marion, South Dakota. Big River is a holding company for various entities, including Big River Resources West Burlington, LLC, which operates an ethanol plant in West Burlington, Iowa. Big River has interest in Big River United Energy, LLC, which operates an ethanol production facility located in Dyersville, Iowa. Big River has interest in an ethanol production facility, which is located in Boyceville, Wisconsin.

Aemetis Company Profile

Aemetis, Inc. is an international renewable fuels and biochemicals company. The Company is focused on the production of fuels and chemicals through the acquisition, development and commercialization of technologies that replace traditional petroleum-based products by conversion of first-generation ethanol and biodiesel plants into biorefineries. Its segments include North America and India. The North America segment includes the Company’s approximately 60 million gallon per year capacity ethanol manufacturing plant in Keyes, California and its technology lab in College Park, Maryland. The India segment includes the Company’s over 50 million gallon per year capacity biodiesel manufacturing plant in Kakinada, the administrative offices in Hyderabad, India, and the holding companies in Nevada and Mauritius. The Keyes plant produces denatured ethanol, Wet Distillers Grains, corn oil and Condensed Distillers Solubles. It produces biodiesel and refined glycerin at the Kakinada plant.