Spruce Power (NYSE:SPRU) and Oklo (NYSE:OKLO) Critical Analysis

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

20.8% of Spruce Power shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.0% of Oklo shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.2% of Spruce Power shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.7% of Oklo shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Spruce Power has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oklo has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Spruce Power and Oklo’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%
Oklo	N/A	-7.11%	-6.92%

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spruce Power	$111.81 million	0.23	-$26.03 million	($0.45)	-2.96
Oklo	N/A	N/A	-$105.66 million	($0.94)	-28.61

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Spruce Power and Oklo, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spruce Power	1	0	0	0	1.00
Oklo	1	9	12	1	2.57

Oklo has a consensus target price of $78.47, indicating a potential upside of 191.80%. Given Oklo’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Oklo is more favorable than Spruce Power.

Summary

Oklo beats Spruce Power on 7 of the 13 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 Oklo

Oklo Inc. designs and develops fission power plants to provide reliable and commercial-scale energy to customers in the United States. It also provides used nuclear fuel recycling services. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Santa Clara, California.