Needham Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in Generac Holdings Inc. $GNRC

Needham Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC) by 213.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,500 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,500 shares during the quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Generac were worth $4,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GNRC. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Generac by 6.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of Generac by 40.9% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 5,036 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,463 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Generac by 27.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 101,298 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,507,000 after purchasing an additional 21,908 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Generac by 1.6% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 50,550 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,239,000 after buying an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Generac by 8.6% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 104,246 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,929,000 after buying an additional 8,213 shares during the period. 84.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GNRC. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Generac from $226.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Generac from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $257.00 price target on shares of Generac in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on Generac from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Generac in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.65.

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 Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.18, for a total value of $1,360,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 564,528 shares in the company, valued at $153,653,231.04. This represents a 0.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Norman P. Taffe sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.26, for a total transaction of $149,743.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,385,564.08. This trade represents a 3.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Generac Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of GNRC stock opened at $269.84 on Tuesday. Generac Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.94 and a 52-week high of $294.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 2.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.89 billion, a PE ratio of 84.59, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.79.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. Generac had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 4.37%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Generac Holdings Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.