Royce & Associates LP Sells 39,731 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Royce & Associates LP decreased its position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 10.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 335,200 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 39,731 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Gentex were worth $9,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GNTX. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Gentex by 91.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 127,876 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,619,000 after buying an additional 60,934 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its position in shares of Gentex by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,259,831 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $143,599,000 after acquiring an additional 43,457 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 131,584 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,753,000 after purchasing an additional 7,935 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Gentex by 56.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 109,451 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,690,000 after purchasing an additional 39,470 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Gentex during the second quarter valued at about $1,037,000. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In other Gentex news, major shareholder Corp Gentex bought 3,152,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.00 per share, with a total value of $15,762,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 6,463,808 shares in the company, valued at $32,319,040. This trade represents a 95.20 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Stock Performance

GNTX opened at $30.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.87 and a 200 day moving average of $31.79. Gentex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.30 and a fifty-two week high of $37.58.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Gentex’s payout ratio is 25.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GNTX. B. Riley lowered their price objective on Gentex from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Gentex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Gentex from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Gentex from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Gentex in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

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.