Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Generac Holdings Inc. $GNRC

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC) by 7.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,352 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,561 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Generac were worth $12,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Private Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Generac by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 58,781 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,016,000 after acquiring an additional 12,191 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Generac by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 93,080 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,711,000 after purchasing an additional 27,893 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel lifted its position in Generac by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 143,137 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,520,000 after purchasing an additional 13,553 shares during the period. Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Generac by 213.6% in the fourth quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 34,500 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,705,000 after purchasing an additional 23,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Generac in the fourth quarter valued at $699,000. 84.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Generac news, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld sold 5,000 shares of Generac stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.18, for a total transaction of $1,360,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 564,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $153,653,231.04. The trade was a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Norman P. Taffe sold 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.00, for a total transaction of $140,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,808 shares in the company, valued at $4,046,848. The trade was a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,100 shares of company stock worth $1,651,443. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Generac Trading Down 4.0%

GNRC stock opened at $202.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Generac Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $134.80 and a 12-month high of $296.44. The stock has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.36, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.89. The business’s 50-day moving average is $256.28 and its 200 day moving average is $222.70.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The technology company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.47. Generac had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Generac’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Generac Holdings Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on GNRC shares. Robert W. Baird set a $311.00 target price on Generac in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research cut Generac from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Generac from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 price target on shares of Generac in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Generac from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.44.

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.