Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Sunday morning.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group set a $25.00 price target on Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on shares of Gentex from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $26.00 target price on shares of Gentex in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gentex in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gentex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.71.

Gentex Price Performance

Gentex stock opened at $21.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.77 and a 200-day moving average of $24.79. Gentex has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $29.38.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.05% and a net margin of 15.19%.The business had revenue of $644.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. Gentex’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Gentex will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 8th. Gentex’s payout ratio is currently 27.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gentex news, CEO Steven R. Downing sold 35,000 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $866,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 211,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,238,832.50. The trade was a 14.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 11,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.98, for a total transaction of $296,887.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,484,561.40. This represents a 16.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 58,133 shares of company stock valued at $1,442,313. 0.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gentex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GNTX. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Gentex by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 2,479 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the period. Gagnon Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 55,672 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Gentex by 5.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,648 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Gentex by 0.7% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 66,519 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 29,807 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

About Gentex

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).