Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.31.

GNTX has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.50 price objective (down from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim cut their price target on Gentex from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Gentex in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Gentex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GNTX opened at $24.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.60 and a 200 day moving average of $28.86. Gentex has a 52-week low of $24.03 and a 52-week high of $37.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.91.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.10). Gentex had a net margin of 17.49% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Gentex will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gentex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Gentex by 179.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,000,796 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $59,404,000 after buying an additional 1,285,519 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Gentex by 5.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,368,004 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $159,406,000 after purchasing an additional 285,802 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Gentex by 54.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 107,930 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,205,000 after buying an additional 38,027 shares during the period. BCGM Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Gentex by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,743 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,630,000 after buying an additional 22,180 shares during the period. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its stake in Gentex by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,124,403 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,304,000 after buying an additional 20,624 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Gentex

Gentex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supplies digital vision, connected car, dimmable glass, and fire protection products in the United States, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, and internationally. It operates through Automotive Products and Other segments. The company offers automotive products, including interior and exterior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, automotive electronics, and non-automatic-dimming rearview mirrors for automotive passenger cars, light trucks, pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles, and vans for original equipment manufacturers, automotive suppliers, and various aftermarket and accessory customers.