Generac (NYSE:GNRC) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Generac (NYSE:GNRC) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on GNRC. Wall Street Zen upgraded Generac from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Generac in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Generac from $226.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Generac from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $311.00 price objective on Generac in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Generac has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.88.

Generac Stock Performance

NYSE:GNRC opened at $261.39 on Thursday. Generac has a fifty-two week low of $123.66 and a fifty-two week high of $294.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $237.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.55. The company has a market cap of $15.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Generac will post 8.91 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Generac news, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.18, for a total transaction of $1,360,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 564,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $153,653,231.04. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GNRC. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in Generac during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Generac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Generac by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 163 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Generac in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Essential Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Generac by 57.0% in the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 168 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 84.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Generac Company Profile

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.