In a report on Tuesday, Zacks Investment Research lowered their SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:$SPWR) stock rating from ‘Buy’ to ‘Hold’.

“SunPower is gradually shifting its revenue base from solar panel sales to the development of solar projects, power plants and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) systems. Meanwhile, it remains committed to provide high-performance solar power products to its customers. In the overseas, the company has plans to build six projects in many regions in Mexico with expected delivery dates of 2018 and 2019, and gross margin above 20%. However, rising cost is a major headwind for SunPower, given the constant need to come up with new and innovative technology. The company’s share price underperformed the broader industry in the last year,” says Zacks.

During midday trading on Tuesday, shares of SunPower hit $7.22, trading down 1.63%, on a volume of 415,337 shares. The company has a 52 week high of $11.70 and a 52 week low of $5.84. Their current market cap is $1.01 billion. They also currently have a 200 day moving average of $8.19 and a 50 day moving average of $8.55.

SunPower’s latest quarterly earnings were reported on Tuesday, August 1st. They reported a -$0.39 Earnings Per Share, which stood $0.24 above the Zacks’ consensus estimate. During the same period last year, the company reported an EPS of -$0.22. Analysts predict that the company will report -$1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also beat consensus revenue estimates of $312.58 million with a reported revenue of $341.50 million. This is 15.0% lower on a year-over-year basis. The company also reported a Net Margin of 21.84% and a Return on Equity of 12.56%.

Multiple other firms have also weighed in on the stock;

• Axiom Securities: In a report on Saturday, July 22nd, this firm restated a ‘Buy’ rating.
• BidaskClub: In a report on Tuesday, July 25th, this firm downgraded its rating from ‘Buy’ to ‘Hold’.
• Vetr: On Monday, July 31st, this firm downgraded their rating from ‘Strong-Buy’ to ‘Buy’ and set a target price of $12.52.
• Deutsche Bank AG: In a report on Wednesday, August 2nd, this firm gave the company a ‘Hold’ rating and increased their target price from $6.00 to $9.00.
• Macquarie: In a report on Friday, September 8th, this firm lowered their rating from ‘Outperform’ to ‘Neutral’.

In total, 12 firms have issued ‘Hold’ ratings, 5 have issued ‘Buy’ ratings, and 2 have issued ‘Sell’ ratings.

Multiple institutions have also recently altered their stakes in the company;

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought an additional 3,841 shares in the second quarter, an increase of 0.3%, for a total of 1,390,856 shares valued at $12,991,000.
• California Public Employees Retirement System bought an additional 144,400 shares in the 2nd quarter, an increase of 21.1%, for a total of 827,900 shares valued at $7,733,000.
• Northern Trust Corp bought 494,979 shares in the second quarter, and increase of 141.3%, for a total of 845,237 shares valued at $7,894,000.
• Vanguard Group Inc bought an additional 598,221 shares in the 2nd quarter, an increase of 13.8%, for a total of 4,922,577 shares worth $45,977,000.
• State Street Corp bought an additional 296,862 shares in the 2nd quarter, an increase of 14.0%, for a total of 2,421,834 shares valued at $22,619,000.

28.82% of the company’s total stock is owned by hedge funds or institutional investors.

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