Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Short Interest Down 6.2% in April

Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,940,000 shares, a drop of 6.2% from the March 31st total of 4,200,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,440,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Gentex Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of GNTX opened at $34.86 on Tuesday. Gentex has a twelve month low of $25.86 and a twelve month high of $37.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.13.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Gentex had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 18.77%. The business had revenue of $590.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $600.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Gentex will post 2.17 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In related news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other 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 value of $204,326.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 62,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,122,491.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the company’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. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gentex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GNTX. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Gentex during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Gentex by 159.1% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 930 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Gentex by 123.6% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Gentex during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Gentex by 371.3% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 2,157 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.