Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley Financial reduced their price target on shares of Gentex from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. UBS Group set a $25.00 price objective on Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gentex in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $26.00 target price on Gentex in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.71.

Gentex Price Performance

Shares of Gentex stock opened at $22.08 on Friday. Gentex has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $29.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $23.85 and its 200 day moving average is $24.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 0.76.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $644.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.90 million. Gentex had a net margin of 15.19% and a return on equity of 16.05%. Gentex’s revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Gentex will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gentex

In other Gentex news, CEO Steven R. Downing sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $866,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 211,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,238,832.50. This represents a 14.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Neil Boehm sold 11,248 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.82, for a total value of $279,175.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 58,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,463,163.82. The trade was a 16.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,133 shares of company stock valued at $1,442,313. 0.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gentex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GNTX. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Gentex by 14,398.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,726,057 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $179,785,000 after acquiring an additional 7,672,769 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Gentex by 60.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,611,258 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $145,382,000 after purchasing an additional 2,492,026 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Gentex in the 2nd quarter worth $51,815,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its position in Gentex by 297.0% during the fourth quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 3,144,881 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $73,181,000 after purchasing an additional 2,352,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in Gentex by 370.8% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,615,981 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $57,525,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,287 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

About Gentex

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).