Harvest Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Key Points

• Harvest Investment Advisors initiated a new position in Gentex, buying 77,478 shares valued at about $1.8 million in the fourth quarter.
• Gentex reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.48 beating estimates and revenue of $675.44 million topping expectations, while sales rose 17.1% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share payable July 22, representing a 1.9% annualized yield; meanwhile, analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a $26.83 target price.

Harvest Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 77,478 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $1,803,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Gentex by 33.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 189,561 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $4,418,000 after buying an additional 47,150 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Gentex by 1.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,321,634 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $30,794,000 after buying an additional 23,454 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Gentex by 255.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 81,142 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,891,000 after buying an additional 58,323 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Gentex by 8.0% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 813,163 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $17,881,000 after buying an additional 60,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Gentex by 2,038.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,512 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 4,301 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gentex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX opened at $25.73 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.29. The firm has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.79. Gentex Corporation has a 1 year low of $20.48 and a 1 year high of $29.38.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $675.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.42 million. Gentex had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Gentex Corporation will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Gentex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.97%.

Insider Activity at Gentex

In related news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 4,815 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.31, for a total value of $112,237.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 81,443 shares in the company, valued at $1,898,436.33. This trade represents a 5.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 5,939 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.98, for a total transaction of $136,478.22. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 16,693 shares of company stock worth $385,194 in the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GNTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Gentex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Gentex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Gentex from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, UBS Group set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Gentex in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Gentex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.83.

Gentex Profile

Gentex Corporation NASDAQ: GNTX is a global technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of automotive and aerospace products. The company's primary business centers on automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and camera-based driver monitoring technologies. In the automotive sector, Gentex supplies exterior and interior mirrors with integrated electronics, connectivity features, and safety capabilities to many of the world's leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

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