Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its position in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 59.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,481,131 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 2,152,481 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Gentex were worth $34,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Gentex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,613,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Gentex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,258,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in Gentex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,179,000. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new position in Gentex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $726,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Gentex by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,725,426 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $190,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,060 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GNTX shares. UBS Group set a $26.00 target price on shares of Gentex in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Gentex from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Gentex from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Gentex in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.83.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In other news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 5,939 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.98, for a total transaction of $136,478.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian C. Walker sold 5,939 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.98, for a total transaction of $136,478.22. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,230.90. The trade was a 19.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 16,693 shares of company stock worth $385,194 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Price Performance

Shares of GNTX stock opened at $25.86 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.79. Gentex Corporation has a 1-year low of $20.48 and a 1-year high of $29.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.25.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $675.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.42 million. Gentex had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company’s revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Analysts expect that Gentex Corporation will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.97%.

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).