Gentex Corporation $GNTX Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its position in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 90.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,871 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 213,983 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Gentex were worth $500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Gentex by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 196,776 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,300,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gentex by 20.5% during the first quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 14,094 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 2,396 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in Gentex by 1.6% during the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 30,294 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $662,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Gentex by 51.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,155,278 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $25,243,000 after buying an additional 394,778 shares during the period. Finally, Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its position in shares of Gentex by 15.3% in the first quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 347,178 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $7,586,000 after acquiring an additional 46,017 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GNTX shares. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (up from $28.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Gentex from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Gentex from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Insider Activity at Gentex

In related news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 5,939 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.98, for a total transaction of $136,478.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian C. Walker sold 5,939 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.98, for a total transaction of $136,478.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,230.90. This represents a 19.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gentex Stock Performance

GNTX opened at $23.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $24.55 and a 200-day moving average of $23.50. Gentex Corporation has a 1-year low of $20.48 and a 1-year high of $29.38.

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

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).