Strs Ohio Sells 6,657 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Strs Ohio lowered its holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,039 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 6,657 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Gentex were worth $2,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Gentex by 414.3% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 900 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 123.6% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 79.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,887 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Gentex by 371.3% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 2,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,774 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GNTX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. 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 note on Thursday, January 25th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.83.

Gentex Stock Performance

NASDAQ GNTX opened at $33.91 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.99. Gentex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.85 and a fifty-two week high of $37.58.

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

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Gentex’s payout ratio is 26.09%.

Insider Activity

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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total transaction of $204,326.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $446,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares in the company, valued at $1,464,365.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.