Pacer Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 880,091 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,848 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Gentex were worth $19,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GNTX. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 377,484 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $8,784,000 after acquiring an additional 137,245 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 3,905.8% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 700,693 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $16,305,000 after purchasing an additional 683,201 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 25,026.7% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 188,450 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,118,000 after purchasing an additional 187,700 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 61.4% during the first quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 647,425 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $14,146,000 after purchasing an additional 246,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Gentex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,767,000. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Brian C. Walker sold 5,939 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.98, for a total transaction of $136,478.22. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,230.90. This trade represents a 19.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 5,939 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.98, for a total value of $136,478.22. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of GNTX opened at $23.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.53 and a 200 day moving average of $23.49. Gentex Corporation has a twelve month low of $20.48 and a twelve month high of $29.38.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $651.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.65 million. Gentex had a net margin of 15.50% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gentex Corporation will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GNTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Gentex from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Gentex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Freedom Capital downgraded Gentex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gentex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Gentex Company Profile

Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX) is a global technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of automotive and aerospace products. The company’s primary business centers on automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and camera-based driver monitoring technologies. In the automotive sector, Gentex supplies exterior and interior mirrors with integrated electronics, connectivity features, and safety capabilities to many of the world’s leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).