Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 65,500 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $2,139,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gentex by 8.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,689 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,492 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in Gentex by 10.5% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 86,682 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $2,529,000 after acquiring an additional 8,265 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 0.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,990,163 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $612,282,000 after acquiring an additional 190,797 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 10.1% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 137,269 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $4,117,000 after acquiring an additional 12,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in shares of Gentex by 40.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,688 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GNTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised Gentex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. B. Riley upped their price target on Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.83.

Gentex Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GNTX traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $33.58. The stock had a trading volume of 1,249,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,426,241. The company has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.99. Gentex Co. has a 12 month low of $25.85 and a 12 month high of $37.58. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $35.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.97.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. Gentex had a net margin of 18.63% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company had revenue of $589.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $563.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. Gentex's revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Gentex Co. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. Gentex's payout ratio is presently 26.09%.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In other Gentex news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 44,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total transaction of $204,326.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,122,491.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,464,365.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.