Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 44.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 267,497 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 213,623 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Gentex worth $7,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GNTX. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,023,056 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $517,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038,912 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Gentex by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,423,820 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $155,861,000 after purchasing an additional 55,816 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Gentex by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,415,871 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $155,598,000 after purchasing an additional 356,854 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Gentex by 162.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,249,230 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $150,810,000 after purchasing an additional 3,248,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Gentex by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,787,311 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $80,079,000 after purchasing an additional 386,461 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GNTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim set a $30.00 target price on Gentex in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Gentex from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Gentex from $29.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.81.

Gentex Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of GNTX opened at $21.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.84. Gentex Co. has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week high of $35.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.43.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.27%.

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.