Financial Review: Aqua Metals (NASDAQ:AQMS) versus Secure Energy Services (OTCMKTS:SECYF)

Secure Energy Services (OTCMKTS:SECYF) and Aqua Metals (NASDAQ:AQMS) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Secure Energy Services and Aqua Metals’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Secure Energy Services	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.47	12.41
Aqua Metals	$25,000.00	3,814.78	-$15.43 million	($0.21)	-4.21

Secure Energy Services has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Aqua Metals. Aqua Metals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Secure Energy Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Secure Energy Services and Aqua Metals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Secure Energy Services	N/A	N/A	N/A
Aqua Metals	N/A	-78.45%	-54.47%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Secure Energy Services and Aqua Metals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Secure Energy Services	0	1	2	0	2.67
Aqua Metals	0	1	1	0	2.50

Secure Energy Services presently has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.80%. Aqua Metals has a consensus target price of $4.00, indicating a potential upside of 349.89%. Given Aqua Metals’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Aqua Metals is more favorable than Secure Energy Services.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.1% of Secure Energy Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 14.6% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.2% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Secure Energy Services beats Aqua Metals on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Secure Energy Services

Secure Energy Services Inc., an energy services company, provides solutions to upstream oil and natural gas companies operating primarily in Canada and the United States. It operates through two segments, Midstream Infrastructure, and Environmental and Fluid Management. The Midstream Infrastructure segment provides processing, storing, shipping, and marketing of crude oil; and transports oil and water through pipelines, as well as engages in oil production processing and disposal, and water disposal; and crude oil emulsion treatment activities. The Environmental and Fluid Management segment includes a network of owned, operated, and marketed industrial landfills, hazardous and non-hazardous waste processing and transfer facilities, and environmental solutions for site remediation and reclamation, bio-remediation, demolition and decommissioning, emergency response, and metal recycling services. This segment also offers fluid management for drilling, completion, and production operations; drilling fluid services; chemical solutions; and equipment rental services. The company is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About Aqua Metals

Aqua Metals, Inc. engages in reinventing metals recycling with its patented AquaRefining technology. The company provides recycling solution for materials strategic to energy storage and electric vehicle manufacturing supply chains. Its AquaRefining is a low-emissions, recycling technology that replaces polluting furnaces and hazardous chemicals with electricity-powered electroplating to recover valuable metals and materials from spent batteries. Aqua Metals, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Reno, Nevada.