Sigma Planning Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Sigma Planning Corp lowered its stake in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 23.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,461 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 3,485 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Gentex were worth $374,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Greenleaf Trust increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,610 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 3,174 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Gentex by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 51,523 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after buying an additional 4,221 shares during the last quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Gentex by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 202,743 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $6,622,000 after buying an additional 3,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Family Advisors LLC increased 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 buying an additional 12,913 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GNTX shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.83.

Gentex Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Gentex stock opened at $34.71 on Friday. Gentex Co. has a 12-month low of $25.85 and a 12-month high of $37.58. The stock has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.09.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. Gentex had a net margin of 18.63% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The business had revenue of $589.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $563.42 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.09%.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

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

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.