Comparing Lightbridge (NASDAQ:LTBR) and Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO)

Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) and Lightbridge (NASDAQ:LTBR) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Gevo and Lightbridge, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gevo	1	2	2	0	2.20
Lightbridge	1	0	0	0	1.00

Gevo currently has a consensus target price of $6.42, indicating a potential upside of 244.98%. Given Gevo’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Gevo is more favorable than Lightbridge.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Gevo and Lightbridge”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	3.73	-$78.64 million	($0.20)	-9.30
Lightbridge	N/A	N/A	-$11.79 million	($0.80)	-16.30

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

Risk & Volatility

Gevo has a beta of 1.49, meaning that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lightbridge has a beta of 1.94, meaning that its stock price is 94% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

35.2% of Gevo shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.1% of Lightbridge shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.8% of Gevo shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Lightbridge shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Gevo and Lightbridge’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%
Lightbridge	N/A	-18.71%	-18.49%

Summary

Gevo beats Lightbridge on 10 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 Lightbridge

Lightbridge Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in developing nuclear fuel technology. It develops and commercializes metallic nuclear fuels. The company was formerly known as Thorium Power, Ltd. and changed its name to Lightbridge Corporation in September 2009. Lightbridge Corporation is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.