Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 433,446 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,067 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $12,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Gentex by 13.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,664 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 667 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Gentex by 42.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,748 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 6,505 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Gentex by 10.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 392,445 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $11,651,000 after purchasing an additional 36,134 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in Gentex by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 447,470 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $13,285,000 after buying an additional 14,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 16,468 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 2,827 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gentex Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GNTX opened at $23.79 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $25.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.36. The company has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.90. Gentex Co. has a 12 month low of $23.63 and a 12 month high of $36.75.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released 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 net margin of 17.49% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Gentex’s payout ratio is 27.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GNTX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Gentex in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim set a $30.00 price objective on Gentex in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.50 target price (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.81.

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.