Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Generac Holdings has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 18 covering analysts, with 11 buy ratings, 6 hold ratings, and 1 strong buy. The average 1-year target price is about $278.65.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings, posting $1.80 EPS versus the $1.33 estimate and revenue of $1.06 billion, up 12.5% year over year. Analysts now expect Generac to earn 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Several insiders sold shares recently, including CEO Aaron Jagdfeld and insider Norman P. Taffe, both through pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans. Meanwhile, institutional investors remain heavily involved, with about 84% of shares held by hedge funds and other institutions.

Shares of Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $278.6471.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GNRC shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 target price on shares of Generac in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Generac in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Generac from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Generac from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Generac from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd.

Generac Stock Performance

Shares of GNRC opened at $267.79 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $15.76 billion, a PE ratio of 83.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.93. Generac has a 52-week low of $124.16 and a 52-week high of $294.18.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.47. Generac had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Generac will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Generac news, insider Norman P. Taffe sold 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.26, for a total transaction of $149,743.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,385,564.08. This trade represents a 3.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of Generac stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 564,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $153,653,231.04. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Generac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GNRC. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Generac by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,423,971 shares of the technology company's stock worth $330,557,000 after buying an additional 806,430 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Generac by 19,433.0% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 666,075 shares of the technology company's stock worth $130,104,000 after buying an additional 662,665 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Generac by 1,141.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 695,600 shares of the technology company's stock worth $94,859,000 after buying an additional 639,551 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Generac by 127.0% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 959,337 shares of the technology company's stock worth $130,825,000 after buying an additional 536,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Generac during the fourth quarter worth about $68,590,000. 84.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Generac

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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