Short Interest in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Declines By 6.2%

Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,940,000 shares, a decline of 6.2% from the March 31st total of 4,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,440,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gentex

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

Institutional Trading of Gentex

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Gentex by 351.9% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 225,136 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $8,132,000 after purchasing an additional 175,313 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 61.7% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 15,309 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 5,843 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Gentex by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 878,604 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $31,735,000 after acquiring an additional 22,159 shares during the last quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Gentex during the first quarter worth about $411,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Gentex during the 1st quarter valued at about $275,000. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX opened at $34.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.67 and a 200 day moving average of $33.13. The firm has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.99. Gentex has a one year low of $25.86 and a one year high of $37.58.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The business had revenue of $590.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.38 million. Gentex had a net margin of 18.77% and a return on equity of 19.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Gentex will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Gentex’s payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GNTX has been the topic of several analyst reports. B. Riley raised their target price on Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.83.

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.