Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Grows Position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 56.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,451 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 39,470 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc's holdings in Gentex were worth $3,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Gentex by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 276,399 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $9,027,000 after acquiring an additional 21,148 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Gentex by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 69,333 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $2,264,000 after acquiring an additional 5,230 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 93,338 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $3,048,000 after acquiring an additional 11,950 shares during the period. Commerce Bank acquired a new position in shares of Gentex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $457,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 262.9% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,189 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 3,759 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of Gentex stock opened at $30.95 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.18. The company has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.92. Gentex Co. has a one year low of $27.86 and a one year high of $37.58.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.15). Gentex had a return on equity of 17.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $572.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $623.28 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Gentex Co. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Gentex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gentex

In other Gentex news, major shareholder Corp Gentex acquired 3,152,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.00 per share, with a total value of $15,762,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,463,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,319,040. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on GNTX shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Gentex from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Gentex from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. B. Riley decreased their target price on Gentex from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. BNP Paribas downgraded Gentex from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Gentex in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Gentex currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.86.

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.