Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $28.31.

GNTX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Baird R W lowered shares of Gentex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut their price target on Gentex from $29.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.50 target price (down from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

Gentex Stock Performance

Gentex stock opened at $21.75 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.02. Gentex has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $35.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.84.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.10). Gentex had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 17.49%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Gentex will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Illumine Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Gentex by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Illumine Investment Management LLC now owns 63,385 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Gentex during the first quarter worth about $4,118,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gentex during the first quarter worth approximately $359,000. Covea Finance raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 14.3% in the first quarter. Covea Finance now owns 80,000 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Gentex by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 607,253 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $14,149,000 after acquiring an additional 15,012 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.