SG Americas Securities LLC Trims Position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its stake in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 91.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,074 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 55,241 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 414.3% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 900 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 123.6% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 79.2% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,887 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Gentex by 209.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Gentex by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,774 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GNTX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Gentex from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com raised Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, B. Riley raised their price objective on Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total value of $446,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total transaction of $204,326.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,555 shares in the company, valued at $2,122,491.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total value of $446,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Price Performance

NASDAQ GNTX opened at $34.25 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.94. Gentex Co. has a 1-year low of $25.85 and a 1-year high of $37.58.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $589.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $563.42 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 18.63%. Gentex’s revenue was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Gentex Co. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Gentex’s payout ratio is presently 26.09%.

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.