Generac (NYSE:GNRC) Trading 7.2% Higher After Strong Earnings

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

The technology company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Generac from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Generac from $148.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Generac from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Generac in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $189.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Generac from $172.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.55.

Insider Transactions at Generac

In related news, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.15, for a total transaction of $725,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 565,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,129,498.75. This trade represents a 0.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Generac by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,795,550 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,053,650,000 after buying an additional 47,450 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Generac by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,903,297 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $295,123,000 after acquiring an additional 533,612 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Generac by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,441,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $223,293,000 after acquiring an additional 14,844 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Generac by 81.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,042,785 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $161,684,000 after purchasing an additional 469,575 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Generac by 133.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 672,213 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,227,000 after purchasing an additional 384,434 shares during the last quarter. 84.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Generac Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $157.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.69.

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.