Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 3,174 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,654 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 3,174 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Gentex were worth $968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GNTX. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 95.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,823,022 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $222,021,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,502 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Gentex by 110.1% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 375,336 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $12,356,000 after buying an additional 196,718 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in Gentex by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 250,000 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $8,135,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 979,355 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $31,986,000 after acquiring an additional 94,794 shares during the period. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Gentex by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 593,791 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $19,322,000 after acquiring an additional 94,200 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gentex Stock Down 1.0 %

GNTX stock opened at $33.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.99. Gentex Co. has a 52 week low of $25.86 and a 52 week high of $37.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.63 and a 200 day moving average of $33.15.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $590.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $600.38 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 18.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gentex Co. will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Gentex’s payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $446,040.00. Following 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GNTX shares. StockNews.com lowered Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. B. Riley lifted 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. 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 target price of $37.83.

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.