NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of SunEdison (SUNE) , a U.S. solar panel maker and power plant developer, are up 2.23% to $22.90 in pre-market trading today after the company bought Solar Grid Storage LLC for an undisclosed sum to combine battery technology with its projects that generate renewable energy, Bloomberg reports.

Solar Grid has four projects in operation and is developing at least three more this year, Solar Grid Storage CEO Tom Leyden told Bloomberg. The company uses lithium-ion batteries in its systems, which can support projects as large as 10 megawatts.

"[SunEdison is] looking for ways to accelerate their movement into storage," Leyden noted. "We were one of the companies that was actually able to get some projects on the ground based on a business model, not necessarily one-time pilot projects or grant projects."

Leyden will become SunEdison's vice president of energy-storage deployment.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates SUNEDISON INC as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate SUNEDISON INC (SUNE) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed, some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, solid stock price performance and good cash flow from operations. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including generally higher debt management risk and poor profit margins."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• SUNE's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 10.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 10.8%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• The stock has not only risen over the past year, it has done so at a faster pace than the S&P 500, reflecting the earnings growth and other positive factors similar to those we have cited here. Despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year, there is currently no conclusive evidence that warrants the purchase or sale of this stock.
• SUNEDISON INC has improved earnings per share by 16.8% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, SUNEDISON INC reported poor results of -$4.42 versus -$2.39 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings (-$1.38 versus -$4.42).
• The gross profit margin for SUNEDISON INC is currently lower than what is desirable, coming in at 29.07%. Despite the low profit margin, it has increased significantly from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, SUNE's net profit margin of -39.67% significantly underperformed when compared to the industry average.
• The debt-to-equity ratio is very high at 4.85 and currently higher than the industry average, implying increased risk associated with the management of debt levels within the company. To add to this, SUNE has a quick ratio of 0.54, this demonstrates the lack of ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: SUNE Ratings Report