Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Gentex Corporation by 65.7% during the first quarter, now owning 128,523 shares valued at approximately $2.995 million.
• The company recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.47, exceeding expectations and showing a 14.8% revenue increase compared to the same quarter last year.
• Gentex Corporation also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, with a 1.7% yield and a share buyback authorization for up to 40 million shares.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 65.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 128,523 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 50,941 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Gentex worth $2,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GNTX. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in Gentex by 85.4% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,222 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in Gentex by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 54,440 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Gentex by 1.0% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 63,700 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Gentex by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,641 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Gentex by 1.3% in the first quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 51,873 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on GNTX. Wall Street Zen raised Gentex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Gentex in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on Gentex from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. B. Riley raised their price target on Gentex from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Gentex from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.63.

Gentex Price Performance

NASDAQ GNTX traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.91. 601,237 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,294,966. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.56. Gentex Corporation has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $31.72. The company has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Gentex Dividend Announcement

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

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

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.