Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 3,426 Shares of Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,272 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,426 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Generac were worth $11,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GNRC. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in Generac by 52.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,407 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177 shares during the last quarter. Willis Investment Counsel grew its position in shares of Generac by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 105,007 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,684,000 after buying an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Generac by 85.9% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 7,021 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 3,244 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Generac by 54.1% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 11,984 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,904,000 after acquiring an additional 4,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Generac in the third quarter worth $1,823,000. Institutional investors own 84.04% of the company’s stock.

Generac Price Performance

Generac stock opened at $155.67 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 2.03. The company has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $158.57. Generac Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.89 and a 1 year high of $195.94.

Generac (NYSE:GNRC) last issued 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 return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 7.17%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Generac Holdings Inc. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Generac news, CFO York A. Ragen sold 29,081 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.73, for a total value of $5,372,133.13. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 135,613 shares in the company, valued at $25,051,789.49. This represents a 17.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rajendra Kumar Kanuru sold 3,187 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.58, for a total transaction of $585,069.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,738 shares in the company, valued at $1,971,282.04. This trade represents a 22.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,268 shares of company stock worth $7,584,853. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Generac from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Generac from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays began coverage on Generac in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $189.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Generac from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Generac from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Generac presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.30.

Generac Company Profile

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.