Generac (NYSE:GNRC) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday after Roth Mkm raised their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $135.00. Roth Mkm currently has a neutral rating on the stock. 575,999 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the previous session’s volume of 1,033,396 shares.The stock last traded at $135.90 and had previously closed at $134.12.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. OTR Global raised shares of Generac from a “mixed” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Generac from $124.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Generac from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Generac from $112.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Generac from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.65.

Insider Activity at Generac

In related news, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.94, for a total value of $634,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 592,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,170,948.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Generac

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Generac during the fourth quarter worth $155,707,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Generac during the fourth quarter worth $67,253,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Generac by 432.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 392,270 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,697,000 after buying an additional 318,664 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Generac by 13,944.2% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 297,456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,683,000 after buying an additional 295,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Generac by 14.9% during the third quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,010,344 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $219,047,000 after buying an additional 261,050 shares in the last quarter. 84.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Generac Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $121.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.28. The firm has a market cap of $8.27 billion, a PE ratio of 41.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.45.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.02). Generac had a net margin of 5.33% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Generac Holdings Inc. will post 6.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.