Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Makes New Investment in Generac Holdings Inc. $GNRC

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 12,320 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,607,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Generac by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,734 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Generac by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 218 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its position in Generac by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 675 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Meridian Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Generac by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 10,056 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,371,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essential Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Generac by 57.0% in the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 168 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. 84.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Generac

In other Generac news, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.18, for a total value of $1,360,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 564,528 shares in the company, valued at $153,653,231.04. The trade was a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Norman P. Taffe sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.83, for a total transaction of $120,356.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,508 shares in the company, valued at $3,393,615.64. This represents a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 12,236 shares of company stock valued at $2,871,273 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GNRC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $305.00 target price on shares of Generac in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Generac from $282.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Generac from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Generac from $229.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Generac in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.84.

Generac Stock Performance

Generac stock opened at $203.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $232.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $229.95. Generac Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.80 and a 52-week high of $296.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The technology company reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.90. Generac had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Generac Holdings Inc. will post 9.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.