Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Stock Position in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its Gentex position by 5.9% in the first quarter, buying 57,497 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,036,453 shares worth about $22.6 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and other investors holding 86.76% of Gentex shares. Several firms, including Royal Bank of Canada, Goldman Sachs, and Invesco, also raised their stakes recently.
• Gentex posted solid quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates with $0.48 EPS and $675.44 million in revenue, while also announcing a $0.12 quarterly dividend and drawing a consensus analyst rating of “Hold.”

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,036,453 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 57,497 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.49% of Gentex worth $22,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 33.1% in 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. increased its stake in Gentex by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,321,634 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $30,794,000 after acquiring an additional 23,454 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Gentex by 255.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 81,142 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 58,323 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 813,163 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $17,881,000 after acquiring an additional 60,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Gentex by 2,038.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,512 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 4,301 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GNTX has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Gentex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. UBS Group set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Gentex in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Gentex from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Gentex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.83.

Gentex Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Gentex stock opened at $25.27 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $24.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.46. Gentex Corporation has a 52 week low of $20.48 and a 52 week high of $29.38. The company has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 14.20 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Gentex's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In other news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 4,815 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 81,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,898,436.33. The trade was a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 5,939 shares of the business'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 value of $136,478.22. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,693 shares of company stock valued at $385,194. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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