Van ECK Associates Corp Has $5.29 Million Stock Holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 162,104 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,244 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Gentex worth $5,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gentex during the 3rd quarter worth $618,000. IFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gentex by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 129,203 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,220,000 after purchasing an additional 59,407 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 112.3% during the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 24,876 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 13,161 shares during the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its position in Gentex by 104.1% during the 4th quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 184,655 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $6,030,000 after purchasing an additional 94,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in Gentex by 130.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 123,805 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,029,000 after purchasing an additional 70,138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of GNTX stock opened at $34.13 on Friday. Gentex Co. has a 1-year low of $25.86 and a 1-year high of $37.58. The stock has a market cap of $7.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.55 and a 200-day moving average of $33.19.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $590.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.38 million. Gentex had a net margin of 18.77% and a return on equity of 19.19%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Gentex

In other news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total value of $446,040.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.