Citigroup Cuts Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN) Price Target to $20.00

Key Points

• Citigroup cut Sunrun's price target to $20 (from $26) while keeping a "buy" rating, implying roughly a 67.6% upside from the recent share price.
• Brokerage sentiment is mixed but the consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $18.88 (12 Buy, 9 Hold, 1 Sell).
• Sunrun recently beat quarterly expectations — $0.38 EPS vs. -$0.08 and $1.16B revenue vs. $610M, up 123.5% YoY — yet shares trade near $11.93 and insiders have sold stock to cover tax obligations.

Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by investment analysts at Citigroup from $26.00 to $20.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the energy company's stock. Citigroup's target price suggests a potential upside of 67.64% from the company's current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Sunrun from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research lowered Sunrun from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Sunrun from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Sunrun from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Sunrun from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sunrun has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.88.

Sunrun Trading Down 2.1%

RUN traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,819,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,549,793. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.94 and a beta of 2.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.48. Sunrun has a 52-week low of $5.38 and a 52-week high of $22.44.

Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The energy company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.46. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $610.29 million. Sunrun had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.22%.The firm's revenue was up 123.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sunrun will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Sunrun news, insider Jeanna Steele sold 76,478 shares of Sunrun stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.25, for a total transaction of $1,013,333.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 384,538 shares in the company, valued at $5,095,128.50. The trade was a 16.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Danny Abajian sold 132,953 shares of Sunrun stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.25, for a total value of $1,761,627.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 432,157 shares in the company, valued at $5,726,080.25. This represents a 23.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 879,894 shares of company stock worth $13,017,496 in the last ninety days. 3.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunrun

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Contour Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Sunrun during the 4th quarter worth $98,010,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sunrun during the 4th quarter worth $62,169,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Sunrun during the 3rd quarter worth $40,193,000. Robeco Schweiz AG acquired a new position in Sunrun during the 3rd quarter worth $36,969,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in Sunrun by 132.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 2,821,106 shares of the energy company's stock worth $48,777,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609,803 shares during the period. 91.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sunrun Company Profile

Sunrun, Inc NASDAQ: RUN is a leading provider of residential solar energy systems in the United States. The company designs, installs and maintains rooftop solar panels and battery storage solutions for homeowners under flexible financing arrangements. Customers can choose from leasing, power purchase agreements or solar ownership models, all of which are supported by Sunrun's network of installation partners and service technicians. Sunrun also offers integrated home energy management services, including its Brightbox battery storage product, which enables customers to store solar energy for use during peak hours or power outages.

Founded in 2007 by Lynn Jurich, Ed Fenster and Nat Kreamer, Sunrun is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

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