Brokerages Set Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) PT at $29.06

Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.06.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Gentex from $29.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim set a $30.00 target price on shares of Gentex in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Gentex from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gentex

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Gentex by 179.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,000,796 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $59,404,000 after buying an additional 1,285,519 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Gentex by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,787,311 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $80,079,000 after purchasing an additional 386,461 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Gentex by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 189,254 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 45,475 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Gentex during the fourth quarter worth $24,479,000. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Gentex by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,743 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,630,000 after purchasing an additional 22,180 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Gentex stock opened at $21.56 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.14. The stock has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.84. Gentex has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $35.33.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.10). Gentex had a net margin of 17.49% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Gentex will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.27%.

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.