Generac (NYSE:GNRC) Shares Up 7.2% Following Earnings Beat

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC)’s stock price traded up 7.2% on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $152.31 and last traded at $152.00. 756,609 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average session volume of 766,264 shares. The stock had previously closed at $141.74.

The technology company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.31. Generac had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 16.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Generac from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Generac in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $189.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Generac from $148.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Generac from $172.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Generac from $172.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.55.

Insider Activity at Generac

In other Generac news, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.50, for a total value of $787,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 570,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,904,937.50. This represents a 0.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Generac

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GNRC. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Generac by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Generac by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,738 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Generac by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,866 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Generac by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 284 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Generac by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 84.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Generac Stock Up 6.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 2.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $159.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.88.

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.