Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Position in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP has reduced its stake in Gentex Corporation ($GNTX) by 15.4%, holding approximately 6.79% of the company after selling 2.77 million shares in Q1.
• Gentex reported a 14.8% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share of $0.47 exceeding analyst expectations of $0.39.
• The company has initiated a stock buyback program to repurchase up to 40 million shares, reflecting management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its stake in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 15.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,254,859 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 2,768,197 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 6.79% of Gentex worth $355,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GNTX. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 71,729 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Gentex in the fourth quarter valued at $10,868,000. Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Gentex in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,339,211 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $67,206,000 after purchasing an additional 44,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,495,516 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $129,156,000 after purchasing an additional 192,375 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Gentex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $25.00 target price on shares of Gentex in a report on Friday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Gentex from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Gentex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on Gentex from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.63.

Gentex Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of GNTX traded down $0.0320 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $28.1280. 279,680 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,296,176. The firm has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 0.82. Gentex Corporation has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $31.75. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $24.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.45.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $657.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $591.94 million. Gentex had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The business's revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. Gentex has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 16th that allows the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the auto parts company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 8th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Gentex's payout ratio is 27.12%.

About Gentex

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.