Argent Trust Co Makes New $334,000 Investment in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Argent Trust Co bought a new stake in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,900 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Gentex during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Gentex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Gentex during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Gentex by 26.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Gentex in the second quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Gentex Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of GNTX stock opened at $29.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.35. The company has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.92. Gentex Co. has a 12-month low of $27.86 and a 12-month high of $37.58.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.15). The business 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, equities analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

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.