New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Stock Holdings in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 67.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,022 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 229,900 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Gentex were worth $2,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Gentex by 162.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,249,230 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $150,810,000 after buying an additional 3,248,434 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Gentex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,959,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,023,056 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $517,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,912 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gentex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,479,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Gentex by 66.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,657,397 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $47,617,000 after purchasing an additional 664,389 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Gentex Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:GNTX opened at $23.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $22.24 and a 200 day moving average of $23.57. Gentex Corporation has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $33.46.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.43. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.01%. The firm had revenue of $576.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Gentex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.07%.

Gentex declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 16th that authorizes the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto parts company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GNTX. Baird R W lowered shares of Gentex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $25.00 price target on shares of Gentex in a report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Gentex in a research report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Gentex in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Gentex presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.28.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In related news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.87, for a total value of $86,082.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,939 shares in the company, valued at $135,824.93. The trade was a 38.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

About Gentex

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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