Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Purchases 2,388 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,442 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,388 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Gentex were worth $1,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GNTX. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 41.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,677,655 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $168,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363,898 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Gentex by 91.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 127,876 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,619,000 after buying an additional 60,934 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Gentex by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 411,535 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $14,865,000 after acquiring an additional 55,748 shares during the period. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Gentex in the first quarter worth $1,073,000. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA purchased a new position in shares of Gentex in the first quarter valued at $28,289,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In other Gentex news, major shareholder Corp Gentex bought 3,152,500 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $5.00 per share, with a total value of $15,762,500.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 6,463,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,319,040. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GNTX shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Gentex from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 4th. B. Riley cut their price target on shares of Gentex from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Gentex from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Gentex from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.13.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GNTX opened at $31.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.92. Gentex Co. has a 52-week low of $27.86 and a 52-week high of $37.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $29.90 and a 200 day moving average of $32.25.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $572.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.28 million. Gentex had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 17.78%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

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.