Generac (NYSE:GNRC) Sets New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $176.21 and last traded at $176.00, with a volume of 167368 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $170.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GNRC shares. Northland Securities increased their price objective on shares of Generac from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Generac from $147.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Generac from $187.00 to $181.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Generac from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Generac in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $169.10.

Generac Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.94 billion, a PE ratio of 37.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $157.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.02.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.27. Generac had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. Generac's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Generac Holdings Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.60, for a total transaction of $833,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 557,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,825,688.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Generac

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barnett & Company Inc. lifted its position in Generac by 18.8% in the third quarter. Barnett & Company Inc. now owns 21,525 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Generac in the third quarter worth $358,000. Meridian Management Co. lifted its position in Generac by 1.0% during the third quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 33,934 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,391,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Generac during the third quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Generac in the third quarter worth about $1,823,000. Institutional investors own 84.04% of the company's stock.

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.