SG Americas Securities LLC Decreases Position in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 25.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 95,906 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 32,941 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $2,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares 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 buying an additional 7,672,769 shares in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,352,668 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gentex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,767,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Gentex by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,629,380 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $154,271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349,445 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gentex

In other Gentex news, Director Brian C. Walker sold 5,939 shares of the firm’s 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. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,230.90. This trade represents a 19.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 4,815 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.31, for a total transaction of $112,237.65. Following the sale, the director owned 81,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,898,436.33. This trade represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,693 shares of company stock worth $385,194. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on GNTX shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Gentex from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group set a $26.00 target price on Gentex in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gentex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target (up from $28.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.83.

Gentex Stock Performance

Gentex stock opened at $24.67 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $24.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.47. Gentex Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $20.48 and a fifty-two week high of $29.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 0.78.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 14.75%.The company had revenue of $675.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $649.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gentex Corporation will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

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

About Gentex

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).