Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Boosts Stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 19.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,061,692 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 175,906 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned approximately 0.47% of Gentex worth $24,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gentex during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 138.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 208.2% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 103.3% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,124 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,686 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Gentex Trading Down 0.7%

GNTX traded down $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.25. 3,826,076 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,842,100. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $21.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.58. Gentex Corporation has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $35.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.81.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.01%. The business had revenue of $576.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.68 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The company's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. Gentex's payout ratio is presently 28.07%.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In related news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.87, for a total value of $86,082.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,824.93. This trade represents a 38.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.