Generac’s (GNRC) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Generac (NYSE:GNRC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $277.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 34.93% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Citigroup lowered Generac from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $207.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $292.00 price target on shares of Generac in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Generac in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Generac in a research note on Friday, March 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $222.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Generac in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.94.

Generac Stock Performance

NYSE:GNRC opened at $205.30 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $199.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.60, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.74. Generac has a 1-year low of $99.50 and a 1-year high of $241.09.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. Generac had a return on equity of 14.55% and a net margin of 3.79%.The company’s revenue was down 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Generac will post 8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Generac news, CFO York A. Ragen sold 24,362 shares of Generac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.61, for a total value of $5,739,930.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 137,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,321,451.02. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Generac

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Generac by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,423,971 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $330,557,000 after buying an additional 806,430 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Generac by 1,141.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 695,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $94,859,000 after acquiring an additional 639,551 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Generac by 127.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 959,337 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $130,825,000 after acquiring an additional 536,732 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Generac in the fourth quarter worth about $68,590,000. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG acquired a new position in Generac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,020,000. 84.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Generac

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.