Gentex Corporation $GNTX Stake Cut by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its holdings in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 556,277 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 88,840 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.26% of Gentex worth $12,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GNTX. XXEC Inc. acquired a new position in Gentex during the second quarter worth about $7,705,220,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gentex in the second quarter valued at about $550,287,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,463,299 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $163,067,000 after purchasing an additional 833,919 shares in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new position in shares of Gentex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $79,924,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Gentex by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,995,044 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $65,442,000 after buying an additional 534,905 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gentex Stock Performance

GNTX opened at $19.37 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.93. The company has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 0.85. Gentex Corporation has a 1 year low of $19.21 and a 1 year high of $26.48.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.03). Gentex had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 15.15%. The business had revenue of $647.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Gentex’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Gentex Corporation will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 7th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 7th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GNTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Gentex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Gentex from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 price target (down from $24.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Gentex from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of Gentex from $23.00 to $22.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gentex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.08.

Gentex Company Profile

Gentex Corporation is a technology company headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan. It develops and manufactures products primarily for the global automotive industry, including automatic-dimming rearview and exterior mirrors, camera-based visibility systems, and other electronic features for vehicles. Its automotive offerings also include HomeLink, a vehicle-based wireless control system for compatible garage doors, gates, and home devices. Gentex supplies automakers around the world and works with customers to integrate its products into new vehicles.