Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $315,000 in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired 13,503 shares of Gentex Corporation, valued at approximately $315,000, as part of a new investment position in the company.
• Gentex recently reported $0.47 earnings per share for the latest quarter, surpassing expectations, with revenue increasing by 14.8% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.8%, reflecting a strong financial position and a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 13,503 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GNTX. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Gentex by 113.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,520 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 11,459 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Gentex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,479,000. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in Gentex by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 126,325 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $3,629,000 after buying an additional 608 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 49.8% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,379 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 2,454 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gentex news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.87, for a total transaction of $86,082.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,824.93. This represents a 38.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GNTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Gentex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Gentex from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Gentex from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Baird R W lowered Gentex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.63.

Gentex Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of GNTX stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,942,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,923,992. The company has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.33 and a 200-day moving average of $23.43. Gentex Corporation has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $31.75.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.08. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 16.82%. The business had revenue of $657.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $591.94 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. Gentex's revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 16th that permits the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto parts company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

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

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.