Retirement Systems of Alabama Purchases 47,870 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 592,241 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 47,870 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Gentex were worth $17,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Gentex during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 227.8% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,826 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Gentex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $125,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Gentex by 159.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,133 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 3,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Gentex by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,664 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gentex Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:GNTX opened at $25.04 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.60. The company has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.91. Gentex Co. has a 12 month low of $24.57 and a 12 month high of $37.58.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.10). Gentex had a net margin of 17.49% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 8th. Gentex’s payout ratio is 27.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Gentex from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Gentex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Gentex from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.06.

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.