Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Holdings Lifted by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 56.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 109,451 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,470 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Gentex were worth $3,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GNTX. Phoenix Wealth Advisors raised its stake in Gentex by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 10,196 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Gentex by 26.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Gentex by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 42,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Gentex by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,808 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,280,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. Finally, JLB & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Gentex by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. now owns 24,381 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $881,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GNTX. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Gentex in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley lowered their price target on Gentex from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. BNP Paribas downgraded Gentex from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Gentex from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Gentex from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gentex news, major shareholder Corp Gentex bought 3,152,500 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.00 per share, for a total transaction of $15,762,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 6,463,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,319,040. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX opened at $30.95 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.92. Gentex Co. has a 52-week low of $27.86 and a 52-week high of $37.58.

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

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

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.