Financial Analysis: PowerBank (NASDAQ:SUUN) and Emeren Group (NYSE:SOL)

Emeren Group (NYSE:SOL) and PowerBank (NASDAQ:SUUN) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

44.1% of Emeren Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 37.3% of Emeren Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Emeren Group and PowerBank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Emeren Group	-5.77%	-1.16%	-0.87%
PowerBank	-7.86%	2.24%	0.65%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Emeren Group and PowerBank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Emeren Group	2	0	2	0	2.00
PowerBank	1	0	3	1	2.80

Emeren Group currently has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 169.54%. PowerBank has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 218.47%. Given PowerBank’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe PowerBank is more favorable than Emeren Group.

Volatility and Risk

Emeren Group has a beta of 2.22, indicating that its share price is 122% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PowerBank has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Emeren Group and PowerBank”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Emeren Group	$68.45 million	1.39	-$12.48 million	($0.08)	-23.19
PowerBank	$41.53 million	1.39	-$22.25 million	($0.16)	-9.81

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

Summary

Emeren Group beats PowerBank on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Emeren Group

Emeren Group Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, develops, builds, and sells solar power projects. It owns and operates 3-gigawatt pipeline of projects and independent power producer assets, as well as a 10-gigawatt pipeline of storage pipeline. The company develops community solar gardens; and sells project rights. In addition, it engages in engineering design; procurement of solar modules; balance-of-system components and other components; and construction contracting and management services. Further, the company generates and sells electricity. It operates in China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Poland, Italy, and Hungary. The company was formerly known as ReneSola Ltd and changed its name to Emeren Group Ltd in January 2023. Emeren Group Ltd was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

About PowerBank

SolarBank Corporation operates as an independent renewable and clean energy project developer and asset operator in Canada and the United States. The company engages in the site origination, development, financing, engineering, procurement, construction, operation, maintenance, and asset management of solar photovoltaic power generation projects. It offers solar energy solutions in the areas of behind-the-meter solar power plants, electricity grid connected community solar gardens, and utility scale solar farms. The company was formerly known as Abundant Solar Energy Inc. and changed its name to SolarBank Corporation in October 2022. SolarBank Corporation was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.