Exane BNP Paribas Initiates Coverage on Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Equities research analysts at Exane BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX – Get Rating) in a research note issued on Monday, The Fly reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on GNTX. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Gentex in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Gentex from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 22nd. BNP Paribas started coverage on Gentex in a report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Gentex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Gentex presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.65.

Shares of GNTX opened at $27.59 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.97. Gentex has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $37.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.03.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 28th. The auto parts company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $419.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.52 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 18.74% and a net margin of 20.84%. Gentex’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Gentex will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

In other news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.50, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Scott P. Ryan sold 1,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.32, for a total value of $57,002.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 170,354 shares of company stock worth $5,206,731 in the last 90 days. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. KRS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Gentex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in Gentex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Gentex in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Gentex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Wagner Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Gentex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.51% of the company’s stock.

About Gentex (Get Rating)

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, 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.

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