Gentex Corporation $GNTX Shares Bought by Ariel Investments LLC

Ariel Investments LLC grew its stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,359,272 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 277,217 shares during the quarter. Gentex comprises approximately 1.8% of Ariel Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Ariel Investments LLC owned approximately 3.35% of Gentex worth $161,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Gentex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 305.7% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,217 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 917 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Gentex in the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Steph & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Gentex during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 34.4% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,854 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on GNTX shares. Robert W. Baird set a $29.00 target price on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research cut Gentex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Gentex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 target price on Gentex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gentex in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.29.

Gentex Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:GNTX opened at $23.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.84. Gentex Corporation has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $31.25.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.01). Gentex had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 15.86%. The company had revenue of $570.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 7th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 7th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.24%.

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.