Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) Shares Acquired by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 63.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 289,453 shares of the auto parts company's stock after buying an additional 112,593 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned about 0.13% of Gentex worth $6,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted 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 period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 208.2% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 103.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,124 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GNTX. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Gentex in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Gentex in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $23.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Gentex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.28.

Gentex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GNTX traded down $0.08 during trading on Thursday, hitting $23.13. 2,192,216 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,914,761. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.81. Gentex Corporation has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $35.23. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $22.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.72.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $578.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Gentex's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Gentex's payout ratio is currently 28.07%.

Gentex declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 16th that permits the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto parts company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gentex news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.87, for a total transaction of $86,082.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,824.93. This represents a 38.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

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.