Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 17,276 Shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. has reduced its holdings in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 51.0%, leaving it with 16,630 shares valued at approximately $387,000 as of its latest SEC filing.
• Gentex's quarterly earnings report indicated an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.47, surpassing analysts' expectations, and the company's revenue rose by 14.8% year-over-year to $657.86 million.
• The company's board has approved a stock buyback plan allowing for the reacquisition of up to 40 million shares, signaling confidence in the stock's valuation.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 51.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,630 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 17,276 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Gentex were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,516,817 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $158,498,000 after buying an additional 86,929 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,423,820 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $155,861,000 after buying an additional 55,816 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Gentex by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,495,516 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $129,156,000 after purchasing an additional 192,375 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,438,938 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $127,531,000 after purchasing an additional 611,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its position in Gentex by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 2,371,342 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $68,129,000 after purchasing an additional 186,614 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In other news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director directly owned 5,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,824.93. The trade was a 38.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GNTX shares. B. Riley increased their price target on Gentex from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Baird R W lowered shares of Gentex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Gentex in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Industrial Alliance Securities set a $25.00 price target on Gentex in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gentex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.63.

Gentex Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:GNTX traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $26.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,203,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,968,755. Gentex Corporation has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week high of $31.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.85 and a 200-day moving average of $23.45.

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

Gentex declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 16th that allows the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto parts company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

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