Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 62,137 Shares of Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,622,237 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,137 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.72% of Gentex worth $37,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 523,489 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $12,197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Gentex in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,868,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 219,454 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $5,113,000 after purchasing an additional 12,168 shares during the period. Praxis Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Gentex in the 1st quarter valued at about $359,000. Finally, Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 682,684 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $15,907,000 after purchasing an additional 105,446 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gentex Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GNTX opened at $27.18 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.38. Gentex Corporation has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $31.75. The firm has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.82.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.08. Gentex had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The firm had revenue of $657.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $591.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.12%.

Gentex announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 16th that permits the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto parts company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GNTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Gentex from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Gentex in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Gentex from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Gentex from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Industrial Alliance Securities set a $25.00 price target on shares of Gentex in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Gentex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.63.

Gentex 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.