Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) Receives Buy Rating from B. Riley

B. Riley reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. B. Riley currently has a $32.50 target price on the auto parts company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $37.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Gentex from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Gentex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.06.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GNTX opened at $25.17 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $28.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.75. Gentex has a 1-year low of $24.57 and a 1-year high of $37.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.91.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.10). Gentex had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 17.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Gentex will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gentex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in Gentex by 1.5% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 7,699,919 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $228,611,000 after buying an additional 111,500 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Gentex by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,368,004 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $159,406,000 after acquiring an additional 285,802 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its position in shares of Gentex by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,493,914 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $133,424,000 after purchasing an additional 234,083 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 179.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,000,796 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $59,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Gentex by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,554,823 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $46,163,000 after purchasing an additional 6,106 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.