Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Short Interest Update

Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,480,000 shares, an increase of 64.5% from the April 15th total of 3,940,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In other news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total value of $446,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gentex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GNTX. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Gentex in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Gentex by 159.1% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 930 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Gentex by 123.6% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Gentex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Gentex by 371.3% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 2,157 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gentex Trading Up 0.8 %

GNTX stock traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $35.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,095,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,352,285. The company has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.98. Gentex has a 12 month low of $25.86 and a 12 month high of $37.58. The firm's 50-day moving average is $35.39 and its 200-day moving average is $33.35.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $590.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.38 million. Gentex had a net margin of 18.77% and a return on equity of 19.19%. Gentex's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Gentex will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Gentex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GNTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com raised Gentex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price objective on Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.83.

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.