Paloma Partners Management Co Makes New Investment in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 10,958 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 563,518 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $18,404,000 after buying an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 70.7% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 54,052 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,765,000 after buying an additional 22,390 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 62.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 42,789 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after buying an additional 16,439 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 60,434 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after buying an additional 1,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 371.3% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 2,157 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Gentex from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. B. Riley decreased their price target on Gentex from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. StockNews.com cut Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 4th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Gentex from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gentex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.00.

Gentex Stock Performance

GNTX traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $31.35. 2,269,998 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,404,474. Gentex Co. has a one year low of $27.86 and a one year high of $37.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.55.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Gentex had a return on equity of 17.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $590.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. Gentex’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gentex Co. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 4,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.46, for a total transaction of $162,513.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,707.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.