Critical Review: Spruce Power (NYSE:SPRU) versus Vistra (NYSE:VST)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spruce Power	-121.98%	-23.98%	-5.48%
Vistra	12.51%	57.63%	6.02%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Spruce Power and Vistra”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spruce Power	$77.58 million	0.61	-$65.83 million	($5.06)	-0.50
Vistra	$14.78 billion	3.86	$1.49 billion	$5.36	31.27

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

20.8% of Spruce Power shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.9% of Vistra shares are held by institutional investors. 9.6% of Spruce Power shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Vistra shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Spruce Power has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vistra has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spruce Power	0	0	0	0	0.00
Vistra	0	1	10	0	2.91

Vistra has a consensus target price of $171.64, indicating a potential upside of 2.41%. Given Vistra’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Vistra is more favorable than Spruce Power.

Summary

Vistra 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 Vistra

Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia. In addition, the company is involved in the electricity generation, wholesale energy purchases and sales, commodity risk management, fuel production, and fuel logistics management activities. It serves approximately 4 million customers with a generation capacity of approximately 37,000 megawatts with a portfolio of natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar, and battery energy storage facilities. The company was formerly known as Vistra Energy Corp. and changed its name to Vistra Corp. in July 2020. Vistra Corp. was founded in 1882 and is based in Irving, Texas.