Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 886,785 Shares of Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Gentex Corporation by 4.1%, owning approximately 9.98% of the company, valued at $526.16 million as of the end of the last quarter.
• Gentex announced a share buyback program authorizing the repurchase of up to 40 million shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $0.47 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenues increasing by 14.8% compared to the previous year.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,581,938 shares of the auto parts company's stock after buying an additional 886,785 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.98% of Gentex worth $526,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 0.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 523,489 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $12,197,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Gentex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,868,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Gentex by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 219,454 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $5,113,000 after acquiring an additional 12,168 shares during the period. Praxis Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gentex in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Finally, Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 18.3% in the first quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 682,684 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $15,907,000 after purchasing an additional 105,446 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GNTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Gentex in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Gentex from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Gentex from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gentex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gentex currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.63.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX traded up $0.51 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.69. The stock had a trading volume of 245,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,310,256. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $24.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.38. Gentex Corporation has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $31.75. The stock has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.82.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $591.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 16th that permits the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto parts company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. Gentex's payout ratio is 27.12%.

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.