Insider Selling: Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) CEO Sells 35,000 Shares of Stock

Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) CEO Steven Downing sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $866,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 211,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,238,832.50. The trade was a 14.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Gentex Trading Down 2.3%

GNTX traded down $0.57 on Thursday, hitting $23.97. 1,888,424 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,609,861. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.20. Gentex Corporation has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $29.38. The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.78.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. The company had revenue of $644.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.90 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.05% and a net margin of 15.19%.Gentex’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 7th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 7th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Gentex’s payout ratio is currently 27.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GNTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Gentex from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $26.00 target price on Gentex in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 price target on Gentex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gentex in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $25.00 target price on Gentex in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Gentex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Gentex in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Gentex by 82.3% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 2,042 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 922 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 2,420.7% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,067 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners acquired a new position in shares of Gentex during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Company 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).