GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 2,604.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 138,798 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 133,665 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Gentex worth $3,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,445 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,641 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 126,325 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Smith Moore & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 18,666 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 101,711 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GNTX. Baird R W cut Gentex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Gentex from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 target price (down from $31.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Gentex from $29.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.31.

Gentex Stock Performance

Gentex stock traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $21.72. 1,756,070 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,842,061. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.81. Gentex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $35.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.89.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.43. The firm had revenue of $576.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.68 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 17.49%. Gentex's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 2.21%. Gentex's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gentex news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $135,824.93. This represents a 38.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gentex 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.