Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) Shares Acquired by West Michigan Advisors LLC

Key Points

• West Michigan Advisors LLC increased its stake in Gentex Corporation by 18.1%, acquiring an additional 274,425 shares during the first quarter, making it the largest position in their investment portfolio.
• Gentex reported a Q2 EPS of $0.47, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $0.39, with revenue reaching $657.86 million, a 14.8% increase from the same quarter last year.
• The company has approved a share buyback plan for up to 40 million shares, indicating that the board believes the stock is currently undervalued.

West Michigan Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 18.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,793,348 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 274,425 shares during the quarter. Gentex comprises about 13.9% of West Michigan Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. West Michigan Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.79% of Gentex worth $41,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GNTX. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 189,254 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 45,475 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 34,075 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,515 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $155,861,000 after purchasing an additional 55,816 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Gentex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $644,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Gentex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GNTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $25.00 target price on Gentex in a research report on Friday, July 11th. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Gentex from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. 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. Baird R W lowered Gentex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Gentex in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.63.

Gentex Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Gentex stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $26.61. 2,987,031 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,974,004. The stock has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.46. Gentex Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $31.75.

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

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. Gentex's dividend payout ratio is 27.12%.

Gentex declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 16th that allows the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto parts company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In other Gentex news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.87, for a total value of $86,082.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,939 shares in the company, valued at $135,824.93. This trade represents a 38.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

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.