Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Lowers Holdings in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC reduced its stake in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 412,003 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 34,545 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $11,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GNTX. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Gentex during the first quarter valued at approximately $700,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 11,875 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 115,687 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,696,000 after purchasing an additional 12,990 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new stake in Gentex during the first quarter worth $1,694,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Gentex during the first quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of GNTX opened at $23.47 on Friday. Gentex Corporation has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week high of $29.52. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $23.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.98.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $570.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.10 million. Gentex had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 15.86%. Gentex’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 7th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GNTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price (up from $28.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $29.00 price target on Gentex in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gentex in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 target price on shares of Gentex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gentex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.29.

Gentex Profile

Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX) is a global technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of automotive and aerospace products. The company’s primary business centers on automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and camera-based driver monitoring technologies. In the automotive sector, Gentex supplies exterior and interior mirrors with integrated electronics, connectivity features, and safety capabilities to many of the world’s leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).