Welch & Forbes LLC Lowers Stake in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,300 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 6,050 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $1,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Gentex by 95.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,823,022 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $222,021,000 after buying an additional 3,330,502 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 61.5% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 556,849 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $18,187,000 after buying an additional 211,978 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Gentex by 110.1% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 375,336 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $12,356,000 after acquiring an additional 196,718 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in Gentex by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 250,000 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $8,135,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its stake in Gentex by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 979,355 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $31,986,000 after purchasing an additional 94,794 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Gentex

In other Gentex news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the company’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 transaction of $446,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,321 shares in the company, valued at $1,464,365.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.83.

Gentex Price Performance

NASDAQ GNTX remained flat at $34.66 during trading hours on Wednesday. The company had a trading volume of 231,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,414,811. Gentex Co. has a one year low of $25.86 and a one year high of $37.58. The stock has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50-day moving average is $35.49 and its 200-day moving average is $33.27.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $590.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.38 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 18.77%. Gentex’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Gentex Co. will post 2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.40%.

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.