HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 50,186 Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Key Points

• HITE Hedge Asset Management opened a new position in Gentex during the fourth quarter, buying 50,186 shares valued at about $1.17 million.
• Gentex has seen mixed insider activity, with directors Joseph B. Anderson Jr. and Richard O. Schaum recently selling shares; insiders sold 16,693 shares over the last three months.
• The company reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $0.48 and revenue of $675.44 million, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $26.83.

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 50,186 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $1,168,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Gentex by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 2,479 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the period. Gagnon Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Gentex by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 55,672 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,295,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Gentex by 4.5% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 13,025 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Gentex by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 30,641 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 635 shares during the period. Finally, Novem Group increased its position in shares of Gentex by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Novem Group now owns 11,683 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gentex

In other Gentex news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 5,939 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.98, for a total value of $136,478.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 4,815 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.31, for a total transaction of $112,237.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 81,443 shares in the company, valued at $1,898,436.33. This trade represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,693 shares of company stock valued at $385,194. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GNTX shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Gentex from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Gentex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group set a $26.00 target price on shares of Gentex in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Gentex in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Gentex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gentex presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.83.

Gentex Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX opened at $25.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.79. Gentex Corporation has a 12-month low of $20.48 and a 12-month high of $29.38. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $23.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.24.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $675.44 million for 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%. Gentex's revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Gentex Corporation will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

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

Gentex Company 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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