Norges Bank Purchases New Holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,808,526 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $51,959,000. Norges Bank owned 0.80% of Gentex as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Gentex by 162.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,249,230 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $150,810,000 after purchasing an additional 3,248,434 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in shares of Gentex during the fourth quarter worth about $356,000. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Gentex by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,415,871 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $155,598,000 after buying an additional 356,854 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in Gentex by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 463,159 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $13,307,000 after acquiring an additional 15,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 45,475 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Gentex Stock Up 4.7 %

Shares of GNTX traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $21.80. The company had a trading volume of 7,401,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,673,197. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.06 and a 200-day moving average of $27.56. The firm has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.84. Gentex Co. has a 12 month low of $20.35 and a 12 month high of $35.85.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.10). Gentex had a net margin of 17.49% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. Gentex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GNTX shares. Guggenheim set a $30.00 price target on shares of Gentex in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 target price on Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $32.50 target price (down from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.81.

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.