Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Sunrun's stock price increased significantly after UBS Group raised its price target from $16.00 to $26.00, resulting in shares opening at $21.78 after previously closing at $20.50.
• Sunrun's quarterly earnings significantly exceeded analysts' expectations, with reported earnings of $1.07 per share and revenue of $569.34 million, up 8.7% year-over-year.
• Insiders, including CFO Danny Abajian and CEO Mary Powell, sold shares recently, with total transactions amounting to approximately $401,473 in value.

Shares of Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ:RUN - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $26.00. The stock had previously closed at $20.50, but opened at $21.78. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Sunrun shares last traded at $20.82, with a volume of 2,311,905 shares traded.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on RUN. KeyCorp upgraded Sunrun from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded Sunrun from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Sunrun from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Sunrun from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Sunrun in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.60.

Insider Transactions at Sunrun

In other Sunrun news, CFO Danny Abajian sold 9,055 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.35, for a total value of $175,214.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 424,606 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,216,126.10. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mary Powell sold 11,699 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.34, for a total value of $226,258.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 876,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,953,250.60. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 266,956 shares of company stock worth $4,931,665 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.37% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunrun

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PGGM Investments raised its holdings in shares of Sunrun by 316.6% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 7,007,258 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $57,319,000 after acquiring an additional 5,325,332 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Sunrun by 27.1% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 711,391 shares of the energy company's stock worth $4,169,000 after purchasing an additional 151,474 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Sunrun by 2.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,116,909 shares of the energy company's stock worth $6,545,000 after purchasing an additional 29,227 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its stake in Sunrun by 25.0% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 2,500,000 shares of the energy company's stock worth $14,650,000 after purchasing an additional 500,000 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Sunrun by 11.3% in the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 279,733 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 28,395 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.69% of the company's stock.

Sunrun Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of -1.79 and a beta of 2.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The energy company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $1.25. The company had revenue of $569.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $555.42 million. Sunrun had a positive return on equity of 14.19% and a negative net margin of 120.59%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sunrun Inc. will post -0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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