Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 310,600 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $10,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Gentex by 1.7% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 20,068 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Gentex by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 50,311 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,643,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp boosted its stake in Gentex by 2.3% during the third quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 17,940 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in Gentex by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 10,317 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management boosted its stake in Gentex by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 43,615 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gentex news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $446,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total value of $446,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 62,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Gentex Trading Down 1.5 %

GNTX traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $34.65. 1,597,288 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,415,282. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $35.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.06. Gentex Co. has a 1-year low of $25.85 and a 1-year high of $37.58. The company has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.99.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. Gentex had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 18.63%. The firm had revenue of $589.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $563.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. Gentex’s revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Gentex Co. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.09%.

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.