Smith Moore & CO. Raises Holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Smith Moore & CO. raised its position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,666 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Gentex were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gentex in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Gentex by 138.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Gentex in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,419 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Gentex in the third quarter worth about $125,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of GNTX stock opened at $22.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.84. Gentex Co. has a one year low of $21.56 and a one year high of $36.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.84.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 17.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GNTX shares. Guggenheim set a $30.00 target price on Gentex in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $32.50 price target (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.81.

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.