Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Makes New $10.55 Million Investment in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 417,539 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,551,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GNTX. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Gentex by 14,398.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,726,057 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $179,785,000 after acquiring an additional 7,672,769 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 297.0% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 2,352,668 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Gentex in the 4th quarter valued at $52,767,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Gentex in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,004,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Gentex by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,828,120 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $419,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,203 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gentex Stock Performance

GNTX stock opened at $23.81 on Tuesday. Gentex Corporation has a one year low of $20.48 and a one year high of $29.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.41 and a 200-day moving average of $23.50.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. Gentex had a net margin of 15.50% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $651.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th 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, July 8th. Gentex’s payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GNTX. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Gentex from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Gentex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Gentex from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Freedom Capital downgraded Gentex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.80.

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).