Comparing Spruce Power (NYSE:SPRU) and Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN)

Spruce Power (NYSE:SPRU) and Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Spruce Power and Sunrun”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spruce Power	$108.49 million	0.31	-$26.03 million	($0.45)	-3.89
Sunrun	$2.96 billion	0.73	$449.95 million	$1.48	6.05

Sunrun has higher revenue and earnings than Spruce Power. Spruce Power is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sunrun, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Spruce Power and Sunrun’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spruce Power	-6.76%	-5.94%	-0.87%
Sunrun	11.59%	9.59%	1.77%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Spruce Power and Sunrun, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spruce Power	1	0	0	0	1.00
Sunrun	2	8	12	0	2.45

Sunrun has a consensus price target of $16.81, indicating a potential upside of 87.64%. Given Sunrun’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Sunrun is more favorable than Spruce Power.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

20.8% of Spruce Power shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.7% of Sunrun shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.2% of Spruce Power shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Sunrun shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Spruce Power has a beta of 1.19, suggesting that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sunrun has a beta of 2.37, suggesting that its stock price is 137% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Sunrun beats Spruce Power on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Spruce Power

Spruce Power Holding Corporation owns and operates distributed solar energy assets in the United States. The company provides subscription-based services for homeowners and businesses to own and maintain rooftop solar and battery storage. It offers its subscription-based services to approximately 75,000 customers. The company is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

About Sunrun

Sunrun Inc. designs, develops, installs, sells, owns, and maintains residential solar energy systems in the United States. It also sells solar energy systems and products, such as panels and racking; and solar leads generated to customers. In addition, the company offers battery storage along with solar energy systems; and sells services to commercial developers through multi-family and new homes. Its primary customers are residential homeowners. The company markets and sells its products through direct-to-consumer approach across online, retail, mass media, digital media, canvassing, field marketing, and referral channels, as well as its partner network. Sunrun Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.