Short Interest in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Decreases By 11.1%

Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,730,000 shares, a drop of 11.1% from the August 15th total of 5,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GNTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. B. Riley dropped their price target on shares of Gentex from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Gentex in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set 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 cut 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.86.

Gentex Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ GNTX traded down $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.41. The stock had a trading volume of 235,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,394,461. The company has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $30.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.46. Gentex has a twelve month low of $27.86 and a twelve month high of $37.58.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $572.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $623.28 million. Gentex had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 17.78%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gentex will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Insider Activity at Gentex

In related news, major shareholder Corp Gentex acquired 3,152,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $5.00 per share, with a total value of $15,762,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 6,463,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,319,040. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GNTX. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Gentex by 159.1% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 930 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 7,900 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 1,436 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Gentex by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,044,201 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $34,104,000 after acquiring an additional 19,851 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Gentex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $89,843,000. Finally, 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 worth $3,652,000 after acquiring an additional 63,152 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Gentex

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.