Illumine Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Illumine Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 61,299 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,761,000. Gentex comprises approximately 1.4% of Illumine Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gentex in the 4th quarter valued at about $892,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Gentex by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,445 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Harfst & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Gentex by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc. now owns 74,536 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC purchased a new position in Gentex during the 4th quarter valued at about $281,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Gentex by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,787,311 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $80,079,000 after purchasing an additional 386,461 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $32.50 target price (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Gentex from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 target price on Gentex in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.31.

Gentex Trading Down 0.8 %

GNTX stock opened at $24.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.91. Gentex Co. has a 12-month low of $24.10 and a 12-month high of $37.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.92.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Gentex’s payout ratio is 27.27%.

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.