Gentex Corporation $GNTX Position Increased by Synovus Financial Corp

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Gentex Corporation by 124.4% in the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 53,668 shares valued at $1,250,000.
• Several hedge funds have also significantly raised their stakes in Gentex, with Larson Financial Group increasing its stake by 1,471.0% during the same period.
• Gentex recently reported earnings of $0.47 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst estimates, with revenue of $657.86 million, up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 124.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,668 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,755 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Gentex were worth $1,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 4.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,581,938 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $526,159,000 after purchasing an additional 886,785 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 40.1% during the first quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 7,728,209 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $180,067,000 after purchasing an additional 2,211,392 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 46.2% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,673,701 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $178,797,000 after purchasing an additional 2,424,471 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 3.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,655,948 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $108,482,000 after purchasing an additional 160,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 148.5% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,119,232 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $95,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461,835 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GNTX has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Gentex from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Gentex from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Gentex in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gentex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Industrial Alliance Securities set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Gentex in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.63.

Gentex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.01. 1,973,745 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,973,811. Gentex Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $31.72. The firm has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.58.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.08. Gentex had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The business had revenue of $657.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $591.94 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. Gentex has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 8th. Gentex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Gentex announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 16th that allows the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto parts company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.