Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,695,153 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 113,471 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.54% of Gentex worth $623,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gentex by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 189,254 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,437,000 after acquiring an additional 45,475 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in Gentex by 198.3% in the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 24,054 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 15,990 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Gentex in the 4th quarter worth $1,862,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Gentex by 66.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,657,397 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $47,617,000 after purchasing an additional 664,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in Gentex by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 12,594 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX opened at $23.40 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.90. Gentex Co. has a 52-week low of $23.27 and a 52-week high of $36.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $25.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.05.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 target price on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.50 price target (down from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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, Guggenheim set a $30.00 target price on shares of Gentex in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.81.

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.