Contrasting Spruce Power (NYSE:SPRU) & XPLR Infrastructure (NYSE:XIFR)

Spruce Power (NYSE:SPRU) and XPLR Infrastructure (NYSE:XIFR) are both small-cap utilities 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, 66.0% of XPLR Infrastructure shares are held by institutional investors. 11.2% of Spruce Power shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of XPLR Infrastructure 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spruce Power	-6.76%	-5.94%	-0.87%
XPLR Infrastructure	5.24%	0.61%	0.34%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Spruce Power and XPLR Infrastructure”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spruce Power	$111.81 million	0.25	-$26.03 million	($0.45)	-3.29
XPLR Infrastructure	$1.20 billion	0.77	-$28.00 million	$0.65	15.18

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

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, XPLR Infrastructure has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spruce Power	1	0	0	0	1.00
XPLR Infrastructure	2	3	2	1	2.25

XPLR Infrastructure has a consensus target price of $12.33, suggesting a potential upside of 24.96%. Given XPLR Infrastructure’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe XPLR Infrastructure is more favorable than Spruce Power.

Summary

XPLR Infrastructure beats Spruce Power on 12 of the 15 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 XPLR Infrastructure

XPLR Infrastructure LP engages in the acquisition, management, and ownership of contracted clean energy projects with long-term cash flows. It owns interests in wind and solar projects in North America and natural gas infrastructure assets in Texas. The company was founded on March 6, 2014 and is headquartered in Juno Beach, FL.