Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Reduces Stock Position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 45.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,082 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 19,694 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Gentex by 179.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,000,796 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $59,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285,519 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Gentex during the 4th quarter valued at $24,479,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Gentex by 66.9% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,657,397 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $47,617,000 after purchasing an additional 664,389 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 249.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 617,657 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $18,338,000 after purchasing an additional 440,725 shares during the period. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Gentex during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,815,000. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Gentex Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GNTX opened at $24.52 on Wednesday. Gentex Co. has a 12-month low of $23.50 and a 12-month high of $36.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.16.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 earnings per share (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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. 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.