Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,819 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GNTX. Hendershot Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Gentex by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 659,066 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $18,935,000 after buying an additional 24,231 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gentex during the fourth quarter valued at $11,815,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Gentex during the fourth quarter valued at $334,000. Choreo LLC increased its position in Gentex by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 14,511 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 3,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Gentex by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 592,241 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $17,015,000 after purchasing an additional 47,870 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gentex Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Gentex stock opened at $24.77 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $27.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.18. Gentex Co. has a twelve month low of $24.35 and a twelve month high of $37.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.91.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.10). Gentex had a net margin of 17.49% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 8th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on GNTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Gentex from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Gentex from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $32.50 price objective (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.06.

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.