Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $7.01 Million Stock Holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 27.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 244,036 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 91,739 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Gentex worth $7,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 65,805 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gentex by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,445 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gentex by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,419 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gentex by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 126,325 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $3,629,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Moore & CO. grew its stake in shares of Gentex by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 18,666 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GNTX shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on Gentex from $29.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down from $31.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Baird R W downgraded Gentex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Gentex from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $32.50 target price (down from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.31.

Gentex Trading Up 5.2%

NASDAQ:GNTX traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $23.37. 2,349,551 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,745,825. The company has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.85. Gentex Co. has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $35.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.31.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.43. The company had revenue of $576.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $578.68 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 17.49%. The firm's revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Gentex's dividend payout ratio is 28.07%.

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.