Generac (NYSE:GNRC) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Earnings Beat

Shares of Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $196.61 and last traded at $195.82, with a volume of 2008027 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $181.00.

The technology company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Generac had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 19.14%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GNRC. TD Securities cut their price objective on Generac from $173.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Generac from $155.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays set a $200.00 price objective on Generac and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised Generac from a “neutral” rating to a “mixed” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Generac from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Generac news, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.40, for a total value of $712,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 562,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,166,358.40. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Generac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Generac by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,932,913 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $878,053,000 after buying an additional 137,363 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC raised its stake in Generac by 10.1% in the first quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 1,615,878 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $204,651,000 after buying an additional 148,551 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Generac by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,441,772 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $223,293,000 after buying an additional 14,844 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Generac by 25.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,414,514 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $179,148,000 after buying an additional 285,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Generac by 18.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 859,999 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $108,914,000 after buying an additional 131,460 shares during the last quarter. 84.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Generac Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a PE ratio of 32.39, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.72.

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.