Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Takes $2.90 Million Position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 88,651 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,895,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GNTX. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Gentex by 8.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,332,000 after acquiring an additional 3,492 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in Gentex by 10.5% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 86,682 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,529,000 after acquiring an additional 8,265 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Gentex by 0.9% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,990,163 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $612,282,000 after acquiring an additional 190,797 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its stake in Gentex by 10.1% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 137,269 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,117,000 after acquiring an additional 12,625 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in Gentex by 40.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,688 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 2,524 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were 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 directly owns 62,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,122,491.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were 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 directly owns 62,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,122,491.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $446,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,365.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Price Performance

Gentex stock opened at $33.51 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.99. Gentex Co. has a 12-month low of $25.85 and a 12-month high of $37.58.

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

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on GNTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.83.

Gentex Company Profile

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.