Retirement Systems of Alabama Increases Position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 61.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 556,849 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 211,978 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.24% of Gentex worth $18,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Gentex by 123.6% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Gentex during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Gentex by 371.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 2,157 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in Gentex by 283.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 3,066 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 2,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lavaca Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gentex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GNTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.83.

Gentex Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GNTX opened at $34.30 on Wednesday. Gentex Co. has a 12 month low of $25.86 and a 12 month high of $37.58. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.15. The firm has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.99.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Gentex had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 18.77%. The company had revenue of $590.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Gentex Co. will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Gentex’s payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gentex

In other Gentex news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total value of $446,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total value of $204,326.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 62,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $446,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.