Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC sold 38,504 shares of Gentex Corporation, reducing its stake by 8.9%, while other hedge funds like LPL Financial LLC and Principal Financial Group Inc. increased their holdings.
• B. Riley raised the target price for Gentex shares from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave it a "buy" rating, while other analysts have varied in their recommendations, resulting in an average rating of "Hold."
• Gentex announced a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share and approved a stock repurchase program to buy back 40 million shares, indicating the board's belief that the shares are undervalued.

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its position in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 8.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 394,942 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 38,504 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.17% of Gentex worth $9,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 189,254 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 45,475 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Gentex by 0.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 523,489 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $12,197,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Gentex during the fourth quarter worth about $10,868,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Gentex by 5.9% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 219,454 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $5,113,000 after buying an additional 12,168 shares during the period. Finally, Praxis Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Gentex during the first quarter worth about $359,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on GNTX. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Gentex from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Baird R W cut shares of Gentex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gentex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Gentex in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 5,939 shares in the company, valued at $135,824.93. This trade represents a 38.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gentex Stock Performance

GNTX stock traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.75. 2,366,836 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,981,895. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $22.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.44. The company has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11 and a beta of 0.82. Gentex Corporation has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $31.75.

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

Gentex Announces Dividend

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

Gentex announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 16th that authorizes the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto parts company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.