Gentex Corporation $GNTX Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Gentex Corporation by 46.2%, acquiring a total of 7,673,701 shares valued at approximately $178.8 million.
• Gentex announced a quarterly dividend of $0.12, which equates to an annual yield of 1.7%, alongside a stock repurchase plan permitting the buyback of up to 40 million shares.
• Multiple analysts have adjusted their price targets for Gentex, with a current consensus target price of $28.63 and ratings ranging from "hold" to "buy."

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 46.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,673,701 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,424,471 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 3.41% of Gentex worth $178,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GNTX. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Gentex by 1,471.0% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Gentex by 85.4% during 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. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in Gentex by 268,600.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on GNTX shares. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Gentex from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Gentex in a research report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Gentex from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $25.00 price objective on Gentex in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.63.

Gentex Price Performance

NASDAQ:GNTX traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $27.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,037,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,313,586. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $23.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.37. Gentex Corporation has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $31.75. The stock has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 0.82.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $657.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $591.94 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 16.82%. The company's revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. Gentex's payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

Gentex declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 16th that permits the company to repurchase 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto parts company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is 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.