Harvest Investment Advisors LLC Has $1.61 Million Stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Key Points

• Harvest Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 34.6% during Q1, now owning 69,283 shares valued at approximately $1.61 million.
• Gentex reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.47, surpassing estimates by $0.08, while revenue reached $657.86 million, exceeding expectations of $591.94 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.12, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.8%, and initiated a stock repurchase plan for up to 40 million shares.

Harvest Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 34.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,283 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,827 shares during the quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Gentex were worth $1,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Gentex by 85.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in Gentex by 1.1% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 54,440 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $1,268,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake 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 valued at $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased 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, Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in Gentex by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 126,325 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $3,629,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GNTX shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Gentex from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Gentex from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" 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 note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, B. Riley boosted 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.63.

Gentex Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Gentex stock opened at $26.62 on Friday. 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 $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 0.82. The company's fifty day moving average is $23.33 and its 200 day moving average is $23.43.

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

Gentex Announces Dividend

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

Gentex declared that its board has initiated 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 buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gentex

In related news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of the business's 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 sale, the director owned 5,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at $135,824.93. The trade was a 38.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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