Argent Trust Co Purchases Shares of 9,900 Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Argent Trust Co purchased a new stake in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 9,900 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Gentex by 129.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 111,827 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,652,000 after buying an additional 63,152 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Gentex by 58.1% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,313,757 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $108,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,278 shares during the last quarter. Thematics Asset Management increased its position in Gentex by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 523,207 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $17,088,000 after purchasing an additional 177,207 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Gentex by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,280,716 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $727,688,000 after purchasing an additional 163,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Gentex by 91.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 127,876 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,619,000 after purchasing an additional 60,934 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gentex Stock Down 0.2 %

GNTX stock opened at $29.75 on Friday. Gentex Co. has a 52 week low of $27.86 and a 52 week high of $37.58. The company has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.35.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $572.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $623.28 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 17.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. As a group, analysts expect that Gentex Co. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gentex news, major shareholder Corp Gentex bought 3,152,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $5.00 per share, with a total value of $15,762,500.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 6,463,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,319,040. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GNTX shares. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Gentex from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 4th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Gentex in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Gentex from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Gentex from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.86.

Gentex Company Profile

Gentex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supplies digital vision, connected car, dimmable glass, and fire protection products in the United States, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, and internationally. It operates through Automotive Products and Other segments. The company offers automotive products, including interior and exterior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, automotive electronics, and non-automatic-dimming rearview mirrors for automotive passenger cars, light trucks, pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles, and vans for original equipment manufacturers, automotive suppliers, and various aftermarket and accessory customers.