Cooke & Bieler LP Lowers Stock Position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Cooke & Bieler LP cut its holdings in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 25.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,947,922 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 1,340,963 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 1.69% of Gentex worth $128,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,466 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 29,654 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $968,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 51,523 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 4,221 shares during the period. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 202,743 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $6,622,000 after purchasing an additional 3,345 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Family Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Gentex by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Oak Family Advisors LLC now owns 213,378 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $6,969,000 after acquiring an additional 12,913 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gentex Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of GNTX stock opened at $33.91 on Friday. Gentex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.85 and a fifty-two week high of $37.58. The stock has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.99.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $589.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $563.42 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 18.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gentex Co. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GNTX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. B. Riley raised their target price on Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $446,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Gentex news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total value of $204,326.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total value of $446,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gentex Company 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.