Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Gentex Corporation by 3.6%, now owning approximately 2.07% of the company, valued at $108.48 million.
• Gentex reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.47, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.39, with revenue of $657.86 million, up 14.8% year-over-year.
• The company has authorized a share buyback program for up to 40 million shares, indicating the board's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,655,948 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 160,432 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 2.07% of Gentex worth $108,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GNTX. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Gentex by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 179,659 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $5,162,000 after buying an additional 71,729 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Gentex by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 128,273 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $3,685,000 after buying an additional 9,267 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Gentex by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 14,608 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in Gentex by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 41,447 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 2,835 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Gentex by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 135,517 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $3,894,000 after buying an additional 34,601 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Gentex Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GNTX stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.15. 1,484,110 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,010,611. The company has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's 50-day moving average is $25.03 and its 200 day moving average is $23.56. Gentex Corporation has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $31.72.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $657.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $591.94 million. Gentex had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 16.86%. Gentex's revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. Gentex has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 16th that permits the company to repurchase 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto parts company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 8th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 8th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Gentex's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GNTX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Gentex in a report on Friday, July 11th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $25.00 target price on shares of Gentex in a research report on Friday, July 11th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Gentex from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Gentex from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.63.

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.