Boston Partners Has $137.46 Million Holdings in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Key Points

• Boston Partners reduced its stake in Gentex Corporation by 2.5%, holding approximately 5.9 million shares valued at $137 million after selling over 151,000 shares.
• Gentex recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.47, exceeding estimates, and announced a share buyback program for up to 40 million shares, indicating potential undervaluation.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, representing a 1.7% yield, with a payout ratio of 27.12%.

Boston Partners decreased its stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,900,394 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 151,708 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned approximately 2.62% of Gentex worth $137,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Gentex by 85.4% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,222 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,268,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in Gentex by 1.0% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 63,700 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Gentex by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,641 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Gentex by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 101,711 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $2,922,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GNTX shares. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Gentex from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on Gentex from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Gentex from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $25.00 price objective on Gentex in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.63.

Gentex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.33. 1,719,447 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,737,028. The company's 50-day moving average price is $23.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.41. Gentex Corporation has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $31.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 0.82.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $657.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $591.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

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

Gentex declared that its board has initiated 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 reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board 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.