Analyzing DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) and Spruce Power (NYSE:SPRU)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

20.8% of Spruce Power shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.1% of DTE Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 9.6% of Spruce Power shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of DTE Energy shares are held 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Spruce Power and DTE Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spruce Power	0	0	0	0	0.00
DTE Energy	0	6	8	0	2.57

DTE Energy has a consensus target price of $134.31, suggesting a potential upside of 10.74%. Given DTE Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe DTE Energy is more favorable than Spruce Power.

Profitability

This table compares Spruce Power and DTE Energy’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%
DTE Energy	12.33%	13.42%	3.20%

Risk and Volatility

Spruce Power has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DTE Energy has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spruce Power	$77.58 million	0.65	-$65.83 million	($5.06)	-0.54
DTE Energy	$12.42 billion	2.02	$1.40 billion	$7.38	16.43

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

Summary

DTE Energy beats Spruce Power on 12 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 DTE Energy

DTE Energy Company engages in the utility operations. The company's Electric segment generates, purchases, distributes, and sells electricity to various residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southeastern Michigan. It generates electricity through coal-fired plants, hydroelectric pumped storage, and nuclear plants, as well as wind and solar assets. This segment owns and operates distribution substations and line transformers. The company's Gas segment purchases, stores, transports, distributes, and sells natural gas to various residential, commercial, and industrial customers throughout Michigan; and sells storage and transportation capacity. Its DTE Vantage segment offers metallurgical and petroleum coke to steel and other industries; and power generation, steam production, chilled water production, and wastewater treatment services, as well as air supplies compressed air to industrial customers. Its Energy Trading segment engages in power, natural gas, and environmental marketing and trading; structured transactions; and the optimization of contracted natural gas pipeline transportation and storage positions. The company was founded in 1849 and is based in Detroit, Michigan.