HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 50,186 Gentex Corporation $GNTX

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 50,186 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,168,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 10.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,828,120 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $419,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,203 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 14,398.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,726,057 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $179,785,000 after purchasing an additional 7,672,769 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 1.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,439,333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $163,591,000 after purchasing an additional 74,779 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 2.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,742,293 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $190,807,000 after purchasing an additional 131,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 21.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,725,426 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $190,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,060 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GNTX shares. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target (up from $28.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Gentex in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group set a $26.00 price target on shares of Gentex in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Gentex from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Gentex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.83.

Gentex Stock Performance

NASDAQ GNTX opened at $25.86 on Friday. Gentex Corporation has a 52-week low of $20.48 and a 52-week high of $29.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.24. The company has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.79.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. Gentex had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The business had revenue of $675.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Gentex Corporation will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors 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 yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 4,815 shares of the firm’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 owned 81,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,898,436.33. This trade represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 5,939 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.98, for a total transaction of $136,478.22. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,693 shares of company stock worth $385,194. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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).