Alternative energy stocks have gotten hammered, along with other energy stocks, since last Thursday’s meeting of OPEC’s oil ministers at which it was decided not to cut crude oil production in an effort to raise prices. While fossil fuel prices getting slammed would seem like a good time for alternative fuel prices to get a boost, that is not what is happening.

One reason for that is that alt energy stocks are a leveraged play on the energy sector. Betting that the price of First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) stock is going to fall is a cheap way to track plunging oil prices. And fall is what the alt energy stocks have been doing.

Over the past three months, First Solar’s shares have tumbled about 34% and shares of SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) are down 31%. SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) has lost more than 25% of its value in the same period, and Fuel Cell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL is down almost 36%. Even SolarCity competitor Vivint Solar Inc. (NYSE: VSLR) is down 37% since its IPO in early October.

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There is more to the decline than just a sagging energy sector though. Alternative energy, especially the solar players, remain highly depend on government action. The three countries where solar sales have been the strongest in the past year or so, China, Japan and the United States, source most of their solar modules domestically and government subsidies for new solar installations continue to drive the market.

In the United States, solar projects currently enjoy a 30% federal tax credit that drops to 10% at the end of 2016. But a recent study by investment bank Lazard revealed that the cost of utility-scale solar energy is as low as 5.6 cents per kilowatt-hour and wind energy costs have fallen as low as 1.4 cents per kilowatt-hour. Natural gas-fired generation comes in at 6.1 cents per kilowatt-hour and coal costs 6.6 cents. Eliminating the subsidies for alt energy, solar comes in at 7.2 cents per kilowatt-hour and wind costs 3.7 cents.

First Solar’s consensus price target is around $63 a share. The stock traded at about $47 in the noon hour on Wednesday, and the 52-week range is $45.46 to $74.84. The stock’s forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is 10.34 and the price-to-book ratio is 0.97.

SunPower’s 52-week price range is $25.38 to $42.07. Shares traded at $26.44 on Wednesday, and the consensus price target is around $39 a share. The stock’s forward P/E ratio is 18.92 and the price-to-book ratio is 2.44.

SolarCity’s consensus price target is around $88 and the shares traded near $52. The stock’s forward P/E ratio is negative and the price-to-book ratio is 6.74. The stock’s 52-week price range is $45.79 to $88.35.

FuelCell Energy has had a wild year, with the share price peaking at nearly $5 a share in March before falling to around $1.50 this past Monday. The 52-week range is $1.28 to $4.74, and the consensus price target is about $3.00. Shares traded on Wednesday at $1.65. The forward P/E is negative and the price-to-book ratio is 1.99.

Vivint has only been publicly traded since early October, and the stock’s post-IPO range is $8.01 to $18.71. The high was set on its first day of trading and the stock hasn’t come close to that number since. The consensus price target on the stock is $19.50, and shares traded Wednesday at around $9.20. The forward P/E ratio is negative and the price-to-book ratio is 3.98.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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