Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 42.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,748 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,505 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GNTX. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Gentex by 4.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,706,411 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $206,095,000 after buying an additional 230,873 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Gentex by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,343,880 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $146,432,000 after acquiring an additional 126,416 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,259,831 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $143,599,000 after purchasing an additional 43,457 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Gentex by 14.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,989,248 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $134,475,000 after purchasing an additional 489,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Gentex by 8.7% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 3,222,359 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $108,626,000 after purchasing an additional 259,109 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Gentex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. BNP Paribas downgraded Gentex from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group started coverage on Gentex in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. B. Riley dropped their price target on Gentex from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Gentex from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Gentex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.13.

Gentex Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GNTX opened at $30.40 on Friday. Gentex Co. has a twelve month low of $28.30 and a twelve month high of $37.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.92 and its 200 day moving average is $31.63. The company has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.91.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.67%.

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.