LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Sells 5,472 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC decreased its position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 187,268 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 5,472 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Gentex worth $6,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Gentex by 1.7% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 20,068 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 12.1% in the second quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,401 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 0.5% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 72,087 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 5.2% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 8,095 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 2.3% in the third quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 17,940 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total transaction of $204,326.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 62,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total transaction of $204,326.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 62,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $446,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Gentex from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gentex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.67.

Gentex Price Performance

NASDAQ:GNTX traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $36.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 353,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,440,817. Gentex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.85 and a fifty-two week high of $37.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $35.06 and its 200-day moving average is $32.60. The firm has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.99.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. Gentex had a net margin of 18.63% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company had revenue of $589.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $563.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. Gentex’s quarterly revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.09%.

Gentex Profile

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.