Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN) & Principal Solar (OTCMKTS:PSWW) Head to Head Analysis

Principal Solar (OTCMKTS:PSWW) and Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.7% of Sunrun shares are owned by institutional investors. 39.2% of Principal Solar shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Sunrun shares are owned 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Principal Solar and Sunrun, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Principal Solar	0	0	0	0	0.00
Sunrun	1	9	12	1	2.57

Sunrun has a consensus price target of $19.58, suggesting a potential upside of 55.41%. Given Sunrun’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Sunrun is more favorable than Principal Solar.

Profitability

This table compares Principal Solar and Sunrun’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Principal Solar	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sunrun	15.22%	11.72%	2.08%

Risk and Volatility

Principal Solar has a beta of 0.11, meaning that its stock price is 89% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sunrun has a beta of 2.43, meaning that its stock price is 143% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Principal Solar and Sunrun”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Principal Solar	N/A	N/A	-$400,000.00	N/A	N/A
Sunrun	$2.96 billion	1.00	$449.95 million	$1.71	7.37

Sunrun has higher revenue and earnings than Principal Solar.

Summary

Sunrun beats Principal Solar on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Principal Solar

Principal Solar, Inc. does not have significant operations. It focuses on renewable energy and natural gas sectors. The company is headquartered in Dallas Texas.

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.