Head-To-Head Comparison: Halfords Group (OTCMKTS:HLFDY) vs. Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Halfords Group (OTCMKTS:HLFDY) and Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) are both auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.

Dividends

Halfords Group pays an annual dividend of $0.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Gentex pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Gentex pays out 28.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Halfords Group and Gentex”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Halfords Group	$2.19 billion	0.19	-$42.87 million	N/A	N/A
Gentex	$2.31 billion	2.23	$404.49 million	$1.70	13.86

Gentex has higher revenue and earnings than Halfords Group.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Halfords Group and Gentex, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Halfords Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Gentex	0	7	2	0	2.22

Gentex has a consensus target price of $28.29, indicating a potential upside of 20.01%. Given Gentex’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Gentex is more favorable than Halfords Group.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.8% of Gentex shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Gentex shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Halfords Group and Gentex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Halfords Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Gentex	15.61%	15.86%	13.87%

Volatility and Risk

Halfords Group has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gentex has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Gentex beats Halfords Group on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Halfords Group

Halfords Group plc, through its subsidiaries, provides motoring and cycling products and services in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The company operates through two segments, Retail and Car Servicing. The Retail segment is involved in the retail of automotive, leisure, cycling products and accessories, auto parts, and accessories through its stores and online. The Car Servicing segment provides car servicing and repair services from garages and mobile vans. The company also provides software as a service. Halfords Group plc was founded in 1892 and is based in Redditch, the United Kingdom.

About Gentex

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. It also provides variable dimmable windows to aircraft manufacturers and airline operators. In addition, the company offers photoelectric smoke detectors and alarms, electrochemical carbon monoxide alarms and detectors, audible and visual signaling alarms, and bells and speakers used in fire detection systems in office buildings, hotels, and other commercial and residential buildings, as well as researches and develops nanofiber chemical sensing products. It sells its fire protection products directly, as well as through sales managers and manufacturer representative organizations to fire protection and security product distributors, electrical wholesale houses, and original equipment manufacturers of fire protection systems. Gentex Corporation was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan.