Generac (NYSE:GNRC) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Generac (NYSE:GNRC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on GNRC. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of Generac in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Generac to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. DA Davidson set a $333.00 price target on Generac in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research lowered Generac from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Generac from $333.00 to $297.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $289.45.

Generac Price Performance

Generac stock opened at $194.43 on Friday. Generac has a one year low of $134.80 and a one year high of $296.44. The business has a fifty day moving average of $199.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.78.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The technology company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.90. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Generac will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Generac

In other Generac news, insider Norman Taffe sold 150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $33,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,414,720. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of Generac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $1,030,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 544,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $112,172,768. The trade was a 0.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,442 shares of company stock valued at $3,656,537. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GNRC. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Generac during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,170,960,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Generac by 9.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,038,493 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,849,000 after acquiring an additional 86,863 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Generac during the second quarter valued at $175,942,000. Park Presidio Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Generac during the second quarter valued at $158,140,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Generac by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 454,516 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $133,087,000 after purchasing an additional 21,500 shares in the last quarter. 84.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Generac

Generac Holdings Inc is a technology and energy solutions company that designs and manufactures power generation equipment and other energy-related products. Its offerings include standby and portable generators, commercial and industrial power systems, energy storage solutions, and products that help customers manage and monitor energy use.

The company serves residential, commercial, industrial, and utility customers. Its products are used for backup power, prime power, and distributed energy applications across homes, businesses, data centers, healthcare facilities, construction sites, and other critical operations.