Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Acquires 187,700 Shares of Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 25,026.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 188,450 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 187,700 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Gentex were worth $4,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GNTX. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Gentex during the third quarter worth approximately $3,613,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its stake in shares of Gentex by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 377,484 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $8,784,000 after acquiring an additional 137,245 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gentex by 2,636.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 799,243 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $18,598,000 after acquiring an additional 770,035 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Gentex by 3,905.8% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 700,693 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $16,305,000 after acquiring an additional 683,201 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Gentex during the fourth quarter worth $52,767,000. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Brian C. Walker sold 5,939 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.98, for a total transaction of $136,478.22. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,230.90. The trade was a 19.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 4,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.31, for a total transaction of $112,237.65. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 81,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,898,436.33. The trade was a 5.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,693 shares of company stock worth $385,194. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX opened at $24.27 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63 and a beta of 0.78. Gentex Corporation has a one year low of $20.48 and a one year high of $29.38.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $675.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.42 million. Gentex had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The business’s revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gentex Corporation will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on GNTX shares. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (up from $28.00) on shares of Gentex in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gentex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Gentex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Gentex 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).