Retirement Systems of Alabama Boosts Holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 61.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 556,849 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 211,978 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Gentex were worth $18,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Gentex by 1.7% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 20,068 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Gentex by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 50,311 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp lifted its position in Gentex by 2.3% during the third quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 17,940 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position 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 valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management lifted its position in Gentex by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 43,615 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 62,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 62,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gentex Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of GNTX stock opened at $34.30 on Wednesday. Gentex Co. has a 12 month low of $25.86 and a 12 month high of $37.58. The stock has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.15.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $590.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.38 million. Gentex had a net margin of 18.77% and a return on equity of 19.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. Gentex’s payout ratio is 25.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on GNTX. B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.83.

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.