Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $37.80 Million Stock Holdings in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,622,237 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,137 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Gentex were worth $37,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Gentex by 1,471.0% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Gentex by 85.4% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,222 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Gentex by 208.2% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Gentex by 103.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,124 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Gentex by 268,600.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,687 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,686 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Stock Performance

GNTX stock opened at $27.18 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.38. The company has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.82. Gentex Corporation has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week high of $31.75.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $657.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $591.94 million. Gentex had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 16th that permits the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto parts company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is 27.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Gentex from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Gentex in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Gentex from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Gentex in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.63.

Gentex 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.