Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 61,749 Shares of Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 36.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 230,388 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,749 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Gentex worth $5,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its position in Gentex by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 377,484 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $8,784,000 after buying an additional 137,245 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Gentex by 2,636.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 799,243 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $18,598,000 after acquiring an additional 770,035 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Gentex by 3,905.8% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 700,693 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $16,305,000 after acquiring an additional 683,201 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Gentex by 25,026.7% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 188,450 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,118,000 after acquiring an additional 187,700 shares during the period. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 61.4% during the first quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 647,425 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $14,146,000 after acquiring an additional 246,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In other news, Director Brian C. Walker sold 5,939 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.98, for a total value 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 represents a 19.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 5,939 shares of Gentex 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Gentex from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Gentex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Gentex in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Gentex from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gentex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.00.

Gentex Stock Down 1.2%

GNTX opened at $23.36 on Friday. Gentex Corporation has a 52 week low of $20.48 and a 52 week high of $29.38. The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $24.54 and a 200-day moving average of $23.50.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $651.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.65 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 15.50%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Gentex Corporation will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. Gentex’s payout ratio is 25.40%.

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).