Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,019 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 1,327 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Gentex were worth $690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Gentex by 179.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,000,796 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $59,404,000 after buying an additional 1,285,519 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,787,311 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $80,079,000 after acquiring an additional 386,461 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Gentex by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 189,254 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,437,000 after acquiring an additional 45,475 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gentex during the fourth quarter worth about $24,479,000. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 64.2% in the 4th quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,743 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,630,000 after acquiring an additional 22,180 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GNTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Tuesday. Baird R W cut shares of Gentex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim set a $30.00 price target on shares of Gentex in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Gentex from $29.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.06.

Gentex Trading Down 0.5 %

GNTX opened at $21.07 on Thursday. Gentex Co. has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $35.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.25. The stock has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.84.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.10). Gentex had a net margin of 17.49% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.27%.

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.