Generac (NYSE:GNRC) Cut to "Hold" at StockNews.com

Generac (NYSE:GNRC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

GNRC has been the topic of several other reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Generac from $147.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Generac from $129.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Generac in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Generac from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $175.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Generac in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $154.71.

Generac Price Performance

NYSE:GNRC traded down $3.84 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $158.12. 754,603 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 956,585. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $148.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.94. Generac has a 52-week low of $79.86 and a 52-week high of $169.57. The company has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The technology company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $998.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1 billion. Generac had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 6.03%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Generac will post 6.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Generac

In related news, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.93, for a total value of $794,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 562,177 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,346,790.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Generac

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Generac during the 4th quarter worth $155,707,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Generac during the second quarter worth about $98,282,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Generac by 432.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 392,270 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $50,697,000 after acquiring an additional 318,664 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in Generac by 831.1% during the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 240,111 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,288,000 after acquiring an additional 214,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in Generac by 29.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 457,475 shares of the technology company's stock worth $60,487,000 after acquiring an additional 103,439 shares during the period. 84.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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