Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,467 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Gentex were worth $1,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 414.3% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 900 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 123.6% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 209.0% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 79.2% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,887 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Gentex by 371.3% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 2,157 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $446,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,365.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $446,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,365.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total value of $204,326.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 62,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Gentex Price Performance

Shares of GNTX traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $34.18. 70,498 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,418,611. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.94. Gentex Co. has a twelve month low of $25.85 and a twelve month high of $37.58. The company has a market capitalization of $7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.09%.

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.