Analyzing Spruce Power (NYSE:SPRU) & Entergy (NYSE:ETR)

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

Analyst Ratings

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Entergy	1	2	10	1	2.79
Spruce Power	0	0	0	0	N/A

Entergy currently has a consensus target price of $128.50, indicating a potential downside of 1.64%. Given Entergy’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Entergy is more favorable than Spruce Power.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

88.1% of Entergy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.8% of Spruce Power shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Entergy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.6% of Spruce Power shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Entergy has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Spruce Power has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Entergy and Spruce Power”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Entergy	$12.07 billion	2.31	$2.36 billion	$9.97	13.10
Spruce Power	$79.72 million	0.63	-$65.83 million	($2.68)	-1.02

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Entergy	14.75%	10.10%	2.37%
Spruce Power	-76.20%	-10.61%	-2.61%

Summary

Entergy beats Spruce Power on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Entergy

Entergy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and retail distribution of electricity in the United States. It generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, including the City of New Orleans; and distributes natural gas. It also engages in the ownership of interests in non-nuclear power plants that sell electric power to wholesale customers, as well as provides decommissioning services to other nuclear power plant owners. It generates electricity through gas, nuclear, coal, hydro, and solar power sources. The company sells energy to retail power providers, utilities, electric power co-operatives, power trading organizations, and other power generation companies. The company’s power plants have approximately 24,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity. It delivers electricity to 3 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Entergy Corporation was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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.