Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Generac (NYSE:GNRC)

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

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Generac from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $207.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $202.00 target price on shares of Generac in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Generac in a research note on Friday, March 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $222.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on Generac from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $292.00 price objective on Generac in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.94.

Generac Price Performance

Shares of GNRC opened at $205.30 on Thursday. Generac has a 12 month low of $99.50 and a 12 month high of $241.09. 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 fifty day moving average price of $199.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.53. The company 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 (NYSE:GNRC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.20). Generac had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 14.55%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Generac will post 8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO York A. Ragen sold 24,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.61, for a total transaction of $5,739,930.82. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Generac

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Generac by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,423,971 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $330,557,000 after purchasing an additional 806,430 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Generac by 2.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,189,927 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $313,619,000 after buying an additional 45,592 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Generac by 17.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,138,139 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $355,530,000 after buying an additional 324,809 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Generac by 7.1% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,947,332 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $326,003,000 after buying an additional 128,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC grew its holdings in Generac by 11.7% during the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 1,804,595 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $258,436,000 after acquiring an additional 188,717 shares during the period. 84.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.