Short Interest in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Decreases By 11.1%

Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,730,000 shares, a decrease of 11.1% from the August 15th total of 5,320,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Corp Gentex acquired 3,152,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.00 per share, for a total transaction of $15,762,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 6,463,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,319,040. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gentex

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Gentex by 159.1% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 930 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 7,900 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 1,436 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Gentex by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,044,201 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $34,104,000 after buying an additional 19,851 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Gentex in the fourth quarter worth about $89,843,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 129.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 111,827 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,652,000 after buying an additional 63,152 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Gentex from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Gentex from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Gentex in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley dropped their target price on Gentex from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.86.

Gentex Price Performance

GNTX stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.41. 235,704 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,394,461. Gentex has a 12-month low of $27.86 and a 12-month high of $37.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $30.92 and its 200 day moving average is $33.46. The company has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.92.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $572.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $623.28 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 17.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. On average, research analysts forecast that Gentex will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

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.