Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 36.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 approximately 0.14% of Gentex worth $7,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Gentex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Gentex by 138.8% in 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 buying an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Gentex by 208.2% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Gentex by 103.3% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,124 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Gentex by 268,600.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,687 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,686 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Gentex

In related news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.87, for a total value of $86,082.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,824.93. This trade represents a 38.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gentex Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of GNTX stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $21.25. 3,826,076 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,852,186. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.68. Gentex Corporation has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week high of $35.32.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.43. The business had revenue of $576.77 million during 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%. Gentex's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Gentex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GNTX shares. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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 research report on Thursday, April 10th. Baird R W downgraded Gentex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target (down from $31.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Gentex from $29.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gentex currently 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.