Vivint Jumps After Analyst Says It’s Beneath `Liquidation Value’

Vivint Solar Inc. rose the most in nearly a month after Guggenheim Partners said the Blackstone Group LP-backed rooftop company is trading below it’s “liquidation value.”

While she doesn’t expect Vivint to break up, Sophie Karp, a New York-based analyst at Guggenheim, found it a worthwhile metric to quantify the “valuation floor,” according to a research note Wednesday. Panel installers are closely monitoring a solar trade case that’s “threatening the viability” of their businesses.

Vivint rose 2.3 percent in New York to $3.33 at 9:50 a.m., after surging as much as 6.2 percent, the most since Aug. 29.

Karp, who initiated coverage Wednesday with a buy rating and $5 price target, defines liquidation value as the net equity value of Vivint’s contracted portfolio minus its recourse debt.

“The shares are in deep value territory as the gains previously made in 2017 have been erased while the market is digesting potential implications of the trade case,” Karp wrote. “For a discerning investor, such dislocation presents an attractive entry point.”

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