Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) Shares Gap Down to $34.65

Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $34.65, but opened at $33.73. Gentex shares last traded at $34.16, with a volume of 413,466 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on GNTX. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.83.

Gentex Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.06. The company has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.99.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $589.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $563.42 million. Gentex had a net margin of 18.63% and a return on equity of 19.25%. Gentex’s quarterly revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Gentex Co. will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is 26.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $446,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,365.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total value of $446,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,365.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total value of $204,326.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gentex

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Gentex during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Gentex by 159.1% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 930 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 123.6% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gentex during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 371.3% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 2,157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

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.