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

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DTE Energy	12.33%	13.42%	3.20%
Spruce Power	-121.98%	-23.98%	-5.48%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

76.1% of DTE Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.8% of Spruce Power shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of DTE Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.6% of Spruce Power shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DTE Energy	$12.42 billion	1.96	$1.40 billion	$7.38	15.93
Spruce Power	$77.58 million	0.64	-$65.83 million	($5.06)	-0.53

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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for DTE Energy and Spruce Power, as provided by MarketBeat.

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

DTE Energy currently has a consensus price target of $134.31, indicating a potential upside of 14.28%. Given DTE Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe DTE Energy is more favorable than Spruce Power.

Risk and Volatility

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

Summary

DTE Energy beats Spruce Power on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.