Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.67.

GNTX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. B. Riley lifted their price target on Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Gentex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on Gentex from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th.

Gentex Stock Up 0.9 %

Gentex stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.91. 1,219,218 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,309,703. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.81. The company has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.99. Gentex has a one year low of $25.85 and a one year high of $37.58.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $589.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $563.42 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 18.63%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Gentex will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Gentex's dividend payout ratio is 26.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total transaction of $204,326.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 62,555 shares in the company, valued at $2,122,491.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total transaction of $204,326.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 62,555 shares in the company, valued at $2,122,491.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total value of $446,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gentex

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GNTX. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Gentex by 99,783.7% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,630,950 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $235,366,000 after purchasing an additional 8,622,309 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its position in Gentex by 92.4% during the first quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 8,174,011 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $238,436,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925,355 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Gentex by 95.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,823,022 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $222,021,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,502 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Gentex during the fourth quarter valued at $89,843,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Gentex by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,801,402 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $103,664,000 after purchasing an additional 2,266,973 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company's stock.

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.