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

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

5.5% of Golden Arrow Merger shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.4% of Alto Ingredients shares are held by institutional investors. 77.4% of Golden Arrow Merger shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.9% of Alto Ingredients shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Golden Arrow Merger and Alto Ingredients’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Golden Arrow Merger	N/A	N/A	-$1.47 million	N/A	N/A
Alto Ingredients	$1.07 billion	0.10	-$28.00 million	($0.38)	-3.58

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

Risk & Volatility

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Golden Arrow Merger and Alto Ingredients, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

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

Alto Ingredients has a consensus price target of $5.50, indicating a potential upside of 304.41%. Given Alto Ingredients’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Alto Ingredients is more favorable than Golden Arrow Merger.

Profitability

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

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

Summary

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

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.

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.