Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Stake in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its holdings in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 45.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 147,302 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 124,669 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.07% of Gentex worth $4,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in shares of Gentex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,422,000. Aurora Investment Counsel acquired a new stake in shares of Gentex in the second quarter valued at $534,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gentex in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,283,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in Gentex by 329.8% during the 2nd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 87,438 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,923,000 after acquiring an additional 67,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Gentex by 37.3% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 224,065 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,927,000 after acquiring an additional 60,827 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gentex Trading Down 1.5%

Gentex stock opened at $24.12 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.30. The stock has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 0.78. Gentex Corporation has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $29.38.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.43. The firm had revenue of $644.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.90 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.05% and a net margin of 15.19%.Gentex’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 7th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 7th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is 27.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gentex in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $26.00 price target on shares of Gentex in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 price objective on Gentex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, UBS Group set a $25.00 price objective on Gentex in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gentex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.71.

Gentex Profile

Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX) is a global technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of automotive and aerospace products. The company’s primary business centers on automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and camera-based driver monitoring technologies. In the automotive sector, Gentex supplies exterior and interior mirrors with integrated electronics, connectivity features, and safety capabilities to many of the world’s leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).