Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. Has $15.91 Million Stock Holdings in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. increased its stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 18.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 682,684 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 105,446 shares during the quarter. Gentex makes up 3.3% of Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. owned about 0.30% of Gentex worth $15,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Gentex by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 63,700 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in Gentex by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 54,440 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $1,268,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its stake in Gentex by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 10,541 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Gentex by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 632,955 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $14,748,000 after acquiring an additional 45,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Gentex by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 51,873 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gentex

In other news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,824.93. This represents a 38.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $23.08. The stock had a trading volume of 2,209,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,898,973. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $22.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.81. Gentex Corporation has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $35.32. The company has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.81.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Gentex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Gentex from $29.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Gentex from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Baird R W cut Gentex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note 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 research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Gentex from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.44.

Gentex Company 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.