Analyzing American Environmental Partners (OTCMKTS:AEPT) & Comstock (NYSE:LODE)

American Environmental Partners (OTCMKTS:AEPT) and Comstock (NYSE:LODE) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

2.3% of American Environmental Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.0% of Comstock shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.5% of Comstock shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for American Environmental Partners and Comstock, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Environmental Partners	0	0	0	0	N/A
Comstock	0	0	1	0	3.00

Comstock has a consensus price target of $2.60, suggesting a potential upside of 511.91%. Given Comstock’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Comstock is more favorable than American Environmental Partners.

Profitability

This table compares American Environmental Partners and Comstock’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Environmental Partners	N/A	N/A	N/A
Comstock	-1,210.13%	-32.70%	-23.53%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares American Environmental Partners and Comstock”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Environmental Partners	$23.81 million	0.03	-$15.06 million	($0.03)	-0.05
Comstock	$1.86 million	31.61	$9.16 million	$0.08	5.33

Comstock has lower revenue, but higher earnings than American Environmental Partners. American Environmental Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Comstock, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

American Environmental Partners has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Comstock has a beta of 1.95, suggesting that its share price is 95% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Comstock beats American Environmental Partners on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Environmental Partners

American Environmental Partners, Inc., through its subsidiaries, sources, treats, and distributes reclaimed water in the United States. It engages in the designing, construction, and operation of regional water treatment facilities that serve industrial, energy, and government sectors. The company also focuses on drilling, operating, and partnership opportunities in the upstream oil and gas space. It also provides geotechnical services; educational marketing platforms of podcasts and videography; and construction, drilling, flowback, completions, and well-site services. The company was formerly known as American Energy Partners, Inc. and changed its name to American Environmental Partners, Inc. in October 2023. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is based in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.

About Comstock

Comstock Inc. engages in the systemic decarbonization business in Nevada and internationally. It operates through Renewable Energy, Mining, and Strategic and Other Investments segments. It will develop technology for the deploying of extraction and refining facilities that convert wasted and unused biomass and other natural resources; and a demonstration system to extract black mass containing lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper, aluminum, and other metals from up to lithium-ion batteries. The company also owns the Lucerne Project located in the Storey County, Nevada; and the Spring Valley Project situated in the Lyon County, Nevada. In addition, it offers upstream and downstream design, engineering, fabrication, procurement, and construction solutions; and invests in non-mining real estate investments. The company was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Virginia City, Nevada.