JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) Price Target to $35.00

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $36.00 to $35.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

GNTX has been the topic of several other research reports. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Gentex from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Gentex from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $39.00.

Gentex Stock Performance

GNTX opened at $32.56 on Monday. Gentex has a 52-week low of $27.86 and a 52-week high of $37.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.52.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $590.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.38 million. Gentex had a net margin of 18.77% and a return on equity of 19.19%. Gentex’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Gentex will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.40%.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In other news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 4,716 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.46, for a total transaction of $162,513.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,764 shares in the company, valued at $129,707.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gentex

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Gentex by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,280,716 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $727,688,000 after acquiring an additional 163,373 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Gentex by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,728,378 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $285,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,905,356 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in Gentex by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,706,411 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $206,095,000 after acquiring an additional 230,873 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Gentex by 41.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,677,655 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $168,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,363,898 shares during the period. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Gentex by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,217,464 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $152,335,000 after acquiring an additional 48,435 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

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.