Generac Holdings Inc. $GNRC Holdings Trimmed by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Generac stake by 66.4% in the first quarter, leaving it with 13,420 shares worth about $2.62 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mostly positive, with Generac holding a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $282. Several firms recently raised targets, though a few downgraded the stock to hold.
• Generac reported strong first-quarter results, including EPS of $1.80 versus estimates of $1.33 and revenue of $1.06 billion, while shares recently traded near their 52-week high at $293.28.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in shares of Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC - Free Report) by 66.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,420 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 26,496 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Generac were worth $2,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Generac by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the technology company's stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Generac by 40.9% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 5,036 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $638,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Generac by 27.6% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 101,298 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $14,507,000 after acquiring an additional 21,908 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Generac by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 50,550 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,239,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Generac by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 104,246 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $14,929,000 after acquiring an additional 8,213 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GNRC. Robert W. Baird set a $311.00 price objective on Generac in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Generac from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Generac from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Generac from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Generac from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.00.

Insider Activity at Generac

In other news, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.18, for a total transaction of $1,360,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 564,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $153,653,231.04. This represents a 0.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Norman P. Taffe sold 550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.26, for a total transaction of $149,743.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,385,564.08. This trade represents a 3.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Generac Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of GNRC opened at $293.28 on Wednesday. Generac Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $134.80 and a 52 week high of $296.44. The firm has a market cap of $17.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.93. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $262.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 2.03.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.47. Generac had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 4.37%.The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Generac Holdings Inc. will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Generac Profile

Generac Holdings Inc NYSE: GNRC is a leading manufacturer of backup power generation products for residential, commercial and industrial applications. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of standby and portable generators, transfer switches and power management systems designed to provide reliable electricity during power outages and other critical situations. With an emphasis on innovation, Generac has expanded its offerings to include clean energy technologies such as battery storage and integrated solar-plus-storage systems.

Generac's product lineup addresses a broad range of customer needs.

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