Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 36.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 316,755 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 179,695 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC owned about 0.14% of Gentex worth $7,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,023,056 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $517,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038,912 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,516,817 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $158,498,000 after acquiring an additional 86,929 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,423,820 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $155,861,000 after acquiring an additional 55,816 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,415,871 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $155,598,000 after acquiring an additional 356,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 162.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,249,230 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $150,810,000 after acquiring an additional 3,248,434 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of GNTX stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.39. 2,147,011 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,844,292. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $21.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81. Gentex Corporation has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $35.32.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.43. The company had revenue of $576.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.68 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.01%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, research 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 issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Gentex's payout ratio is 28.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at $135,824.93. This trade represents a 38.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut their price target on Gentex from $29.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Gentex from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird restated 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. Finally, Baird R W cut Gentex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.31.

Gentex Company Profile

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.