Alps Advisors Inc. Acquires 45,544 Shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 7.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 632,955 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 45,544 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. owned about 0.28% of Gentex worth $14,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GNTX. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Gentex by 138.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 208.2% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 103.3% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,124 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in Gentex by 268,600.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,687 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in Gentex by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GNTX. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Gentex from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Gentex from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Baird R W lowered shares of Gentex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $29.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.44.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In other Gentex news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.87, for a total transaction of $86,082.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,824.93. This trade represents a 38.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gentex Stock Down 0.9%

Gentex stock traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $23.08. 2,209,646 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,895,115. Gentex Corporation has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $35.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.89. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.81.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43. Gentex had a net margin of 17.01% and a return on equity of 16.11%. The firm had revenue of $576.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Gentex's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Gentex's 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.