503,517 Shares in Gentex Corporation $GNTX Purchased by Nuveen LLC

Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 503,517 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,732,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.22% of Gentex at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GNTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Gentex by 46.2% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,673,701 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $178,797,000 after acquiring an additional 2,424,471 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Gentex by 4.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,581,938 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $526,159,000 after acquiring an additional 886,785 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Gentex in the fourth quarter worth about $15,802,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Gentex by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,236,718 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $64,261,000 after acquiring an additional 514,920 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Gentex by 888.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 569,608 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $16,365,000 after acquiring an additional 511,997 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of Gentex stock opened at $28.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.47. Gentex Corporation has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $31.75.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $657.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $591.94 million. Gentex had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. Gentex has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 16th that authorizes the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto parts company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GNTX. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Gentex in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Gentex from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.63.

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.