Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 487,769 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 22,012 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Gentex were worth $13,804,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GNTX. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Gentex in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,422,000. Aurora Investment Counsel purchased a new position in Gentex in the second quarter worth $534,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new stake in Gentex in the third quarter valued at $26,283,000. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Gentex by 37.3% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 224,065 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,927,000 after purchasing an additional 60,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in shares of Gentex by 329.8% during the 2nd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 87,438 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 67,094 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on GNTX. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gentex in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 price target on shares of Gentex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group set a $25.00 price target on Gentex in a report on Monday, February 2nd. B. Riley Financial reduced their price objective on Gentex from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Gentex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.71.

Gentex Price Performance

GNTX stock opened at $24.17 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.29. Gentex Corporation has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $29.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a PE ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.78.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.43. The firm had revenue of $644.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.05% and a net margin of 15.19%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 7th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 7th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.59%.

Gentex Company Profile

Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX) is a global technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of automotive and aerospace products. The company’s primary business centers on automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and camera-based driver monitoring technologies. In the automotive sector, Gentex supplies exterior and interior mirrors with integrated electronics, connectivity features, and safety capabilities to many of the world’s leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).