Generac (NYSE:GNRC) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Generac's stock reached a new 52-week high of $199.89 on Wednesday, with a last traded price of $197.38 following significant trading volume of nearly 1 million shares.
• Several analysts have modified price targets for Generac, with Piper Sandler lowering theirs to $155 while others, like Wells Fargo, raised it to $180, indicating differing outlooks among experts.
• Generac reported better-than-expected earnings with an EPS of $1.65 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations of $1.33, and showing a 6.3% year-over-year revenue increase.

Shares of Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $199.89 and last traded at $197.38, with a volume of 983988 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GNRC. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Generac from $175.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Generac from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 7th. Roth Capital increased their price objective on shares of Generac from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Generac from $171.00 to $127.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised Generac from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.28.

Generac Trading Up 1.5%

The company has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company's 50-day moving average is $149.14 and its 200 day moving average is $135.84.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.32. Generac had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 19.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Generac Holdings Inc. will post 8 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Generac news, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.40, for a total value of $712,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 562,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $80,166,358.40. This represents a 0.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Generac

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GNRC. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Generac by 81.1% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 172 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Generac in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC grew its stake in Generac by 740.7% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 227 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Generac by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 228 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Generac during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. 84.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Generac

Generac Holdings Inc designs, manufactures, and distributes various energy technology products and solution worldwide. The company offers residential automatic standby generators, automatic transfer switch, air-cooled engine residential standby generators, and liquid-cooled engine generators; Mobile Link, a remote monitoring system for home standby generators; residential storage solution, which consists of a system of batteries, an inverter, photovoltaic optimizers, power electronic controls, and other components; smart home solutions, such as smart thermostats and a suite of home monitoring products.