Magnetar Financial LLC Takes $454,000 Position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,795 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $454,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Gentex by 179.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,000,796 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $59,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,519 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Gentex by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,787,311 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $80,079,000 after purchasing an additional 386,461 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Gentex by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,368,004 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $159,406,000 after purchasing an additional 285,802 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Gentex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,479,000. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Gentex by 64.2% during the 4th quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,743 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,630,000 after purchasing an additional 22,180 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GNTX. Guggenheim set a $30.00 target price on Gentex in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $32.50 price target (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 price target on Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.81.

Gentex Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ GNTX opened at $23.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.90. Gentex Co. has a 12 month low of $23.50 and a 12 month high of $36.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.53 and a 200-day moving average of $28.26.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.10). Gentex had a net margin of 17.49% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Gentex’s payout ratio is presently 27.27%.

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.