Gentex Corporation $GNTX Shares Acquired by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 65.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 226,238 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89,288 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $5,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Gentex during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,715,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Gentex by 2,355.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 6,401,978 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $161,778,000 after acquiring an additional 6,141,216 shares in the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Gentex by 33.2% during the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 15,207 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Gentex by 5.1% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,355 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Gentex during the second quarter worth approximately $69,000. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gentex Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:GNTX opened at $22.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $23.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.36. The company has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.80. Gentex Corporation has a 52-week low of $20.48 and a 52-week high of $29.38.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $651.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.65 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 15.50%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gentex Corporation will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is 25.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on GNTX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Freedom Capital cut shares of Gentex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Gentex from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gentex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.80.

About Gentex

Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX) is a global technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of automotive and aerospace products. The company’s primary business centers on automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and camera-based driver monitoring technologies. In the automotive sector, Gentex supplies exterior and interior mirrors with integrated electronics, connectivity features, and safety capabilities to many of the world’s leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).