Comparing Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) & Golden Arrow Merger (NASDAQ:GAMC)

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) and Golden Arrow Merger (NASDAQ:GAMC) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

42.4% of Alto Ingredients shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.5% of Golden Arrow Merger shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.9% of Alto Ingredients shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 77.4% of Golden Arrow Merger shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Alto Ingredients has a beta of 1.97, suggesting that its stock price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Golden Arrow Merger has a beta of 0.01, suggesting that its stock price is 99% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Alto Ingredients and Golden Arrow Merger”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alto Ingredients	$1.22 billion	0.10	-$28.00 million	($0.38)	-4.05
Golden Arrow Merger	N/A	N/A	-$1.47 million	N/A	N/A

Golden Arrow Merger has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Alto Ingredients.

Profitability

This table compares Alto Ingredients and Golden Arrow Merger’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alto Ingredients	-3.49%	-11.26%	-7.02%
Golden Arrow Merger	N/A	N/A	-24.61%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Alto Ingredients and Golden Arrow Merger, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alto Ingredients	0	0	1	0	3.00
Golden Arrow Merger	0	0	0	0	N/A

Alto Ingredients currently has a consensus target price of $5.50, indicating a potential upside of 257.14%. Given Alto Ingredients’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Alto Ingredients is more favorable than Golden Arrow Merger.

Summary

Alto Ingredients beats Golden Arrow Merger on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alto Ingredients

Alto Ingredients, Inc. produces, distributes, and markets specialty alcohols, renewable fuel, and essential ingredients in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Marketing and Distribution, Pekin Campus Production, and Western Production. It offers specialty alcohols used in mouthwash, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, hand sanitizers, disinfectants, and cleaners for health, home, and beauty markets; grain neutral spirits used in alcoholic beverages and vinegar, as well as corn germ used in corn oils in the food and beverage markets; alcohols and other products for paint applications and fertilizers in the industrial and agriculture markets; and essential ingredients include dried yeast, corn protein meal, corn protein feed, distiller's grains, and liquid feed for commercial animal feed and pet food applications, as well as yeast for human consumption. The company also provides fuel-grade ethanol used as transportation fuel and distillers corn oil used as a biodiesel feedstock, as well as fuel-grade ethanol produced by third parties. In addition, it offers transportation, storage, and delivery services through third-party service providers. The company sells ethanol to integrated oil companies and gasoline marketers; essential ingredient feed products to dairies and feedlots; and corn oil to poultry, renewable diesel, and biodiesel customers. It operates alcohol production facilities. The company was formerly known as Pacific Ethanol, Inc. and changed its name to Alto Ingredients, Inc. in January 2021. Alto Ingredients, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Pekin, Illinois.

About Golden Arrow Merger

Golden Arrow Merger Corp. does not have significant operations. The company intends to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses. It focuses on acquiring companies in the healthcare and healthcare-related infrastructure industries in the United States and other developed countries. The company was incorporated in 2020 and is based in New York, New York. Golden Arrow Merger Corp. is a subsidiary of Golden Arrow Sponsor, LLC.