Scientech Research LLC Acquires Shares of 8,426 Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,426 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Gentex by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,280,716 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $727,688,000 after buying an additional 163,373 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Gentex by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,728,378 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $285,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,905,356 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in Gentex by 4.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,706,411 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $206,095,000 after acquiring an additional 230,873 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Gentex by 41.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,677,655 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $168,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,363,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Gentex by 3.0% during the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,343,880 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $146,432,000 after purchasing an additional 126,416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Corp Gentex purchased 3,152,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.00 per share, for a total transaction of $15,762,500.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 6,463,808 shares in the company, valued at $32,319,040. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gentex Price Performance

GNTX opened at $29.69 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $30.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.92. Gentex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.86 and a fifty-two week high of $37.58.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $572.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $623.28 million. Gentex had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 17.78%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Gentex Co. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GNTX. UBS Group began coverage on Gentex in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 4th. B. Riley reduced their price target on shares of Gentex from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Gentex from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.86.

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.