Country Trust Bank Purchases 26,080 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Country Trust Bank lifted its position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 3.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 904,867 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 26,080 shares during the quarter. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Gentex were worth $26,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV acquired a new position in shares of Gentex during the fourth quarter worth $144,000. Capital Fund Management S.A. increased its position in Gentex by 237.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 153,970 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $5,029,000 after buying an additional 108,281 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Gentex in the fourth quarter valued at about $839,000. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. raised its stake in Gentex by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 517,623 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $16,906,000 after buying an additional 3,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Gentex in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Price Performance

Shares of Gentex stock opened at $28.68 on Wednesday. Gentex Co. has a 1 year low of $27.86 and a 1 year high of $37.58. The stock has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.81.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released 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). Gentex had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 17.78%. The company had revenue of $572.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $623.28 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gentex Co. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. Gentex’s payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Corp Gentex bought 3,152,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.00 per share, for a total transaction of $15,762,500.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 6,463,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,319,040. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on GNTX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Gentex from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Gentex from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.29.

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.