Generac (NYSE:GNRC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Key Points

• Citigroup raised Generac’s price target from $232 to $235 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying 18.87% potential upside from the prior close.
• Generac has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, with a consensus target price of $290.41; other analysts include Stephens and UBS with “buy” or “overweight” recommendations.
• Shares fell 2.8% to $197.70, despite the company beating quarterly EPS estimates at $2.54 versus $2.40 and reporting 16.2% year-over-year revenue growth.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at Citigroup from $232.00 to $235.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the technology company's stock. Citigroup's target price indicates a potential upside of 18.87% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of Generac in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Generac from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. HSBC cut Generac to a "hold" rating and set a $333.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 17th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Generac in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Generac from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Generac presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.41.

Generac Trading Down 2.8%

Generac stock traded down $5.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $197.70. The company had a trading volume of 1,837,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,098,274. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Generac has a 12-month low of $134.80 and a 12-month high of $296.44. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $199.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.29. The firm has a market cap of $11.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.91.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. Generac had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 18.78%. Generac's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Generac will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Generac

In other news, insider Norman Taffe sold 550 shares of Generac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.83, for a total transaction of $120,356.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,393,615.64. The trade was a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kyle Raabe sold 603 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.57, for a total value of $128,179.71. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,118,472.62. This represents a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 18,442 shares of company stock valued at $3,656,537 in the last quarter. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Generac during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,170,960,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Generac in the second quarter valued at $175,942,000. Park Presidio Capital LLC acquired a new position in Generac in the second quarter valued at $158,140,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Generac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $90,872,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Generac by 174.9% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 433,016 shares of the technology company's stock worth $84,581,000 after purchasing an additional 275,506 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.04% of the company's stock.

About Generac

Generac Holdings Inc is a technology and energy solutions company that designs and manufactures power generation equipment and other energy-related products. Its offerings include standby and portable generators, commercial and industrial power systems, energy storage solutions, and products that help customers manage and monitor energy use.

The company serves residential, commercial, industrial, and utility customers. Its products are used for backup power, prime power, and distributed energy applications across homes, businesses, data centers, healthcare facilities, construction sites, and other critical operations.

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