Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Sunrun from a "hold" to a "strong-buy", while the broader analyst consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $18.63.
• Sunrun materially beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.38 EPS versus an expected ($0.08) and revenue of $1.16 billion versus $610.3 million, a 123.5% year-over-year revenue increase and a 15.22% net margin.
• Notable insider selling occurred—879,894 shares (~$12.7M) sold over the past three months—while institutional ownership is high (about 91.7%) and insiders retain roughly 3.55% of the stock.

Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Sunrun from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Sunrun from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Loop Capital set a $12.00 price objective on Sunrun in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on Sunrun from $23.00 to $14.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Sunrun from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.63.

Sunrun Stock Up 6.0%

RUN stock opened at $13.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 7.87 and a beta of 2.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.25 and a 200-day moving average of $17.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.66. Sunrun has a one year low of $5.38 and a one year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $610.29 million. Sunrun had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 123.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Sunrun will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sunrun

In related news, insider Jeanna Steele sold 76,478 shares of the company's 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 $1,013,333.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 384,538 shares in the company, valued at $5,095,128.50. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CAO Maria Barak sold 8,039 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.67, for a total value of $109,893.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 72,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $997,404.21. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 879,894 shares of company stock worth $12,732,496. Corporate insiders own 3.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunrun

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in Sunrun by 3,147.1% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 153,164 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,648,000 after acquiring an additional 148,447 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Sunrun by 5.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,194,915 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $20,660,000 after purchasing an additional 63,284 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in shares of Sunrun by 41.7% in the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 498,530 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $8,620,000 after purchasing an additional 146,588 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sunrun by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,193,170 shares of the energy company's stock worth $418,300,000 after purchasing an additional 288,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,609,803 shares in the last quarter. 91.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sunrun

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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