Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Short Interest Up 5.8% in September

Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,250,000 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the September 15th total of 4,960,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Corp Gentex acquired 3,152,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.00 per share, for a total transaction of $15,762,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,463,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,319,040. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gentex

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,280,716 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $727,688,000 after purchasing an additional 163,373 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Gentex by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,728,378 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $285,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,905,356 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Gentex by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,706,411 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $206,095,000 after acquiring an additional 230,873 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Gentex by 41.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,677,655 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $168,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,363,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Gentex by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,343,880 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $146,432,000 after purchasing an additional 126,416 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gentex Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Gentex stock traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $29.70. The stock had a trading volume of 829,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,448,314. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.50. Gentex has a 12-month low of $27.86 and a 12-month high of $37.58. The firm has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.92.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $572.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $623.28 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 17.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Sell-side analysts expect that Gentex will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GNTX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Gentex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Gentex from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. B. Riley reduced their price target on shares of Gentex from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Gentex in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.13.

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.