Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Buys New Shares in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 285,297 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,470,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Gentex during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Gentex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Gentex by 173.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 227.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,826 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gentex in the 2nd quarter valued at $67,000. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GNTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Gentex from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas lowered Gentex from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Gentex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Gentex from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.00.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In other news, major shareholder Corp Gentex purchased 3,152,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.00 per share, with a total value of $15,762,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,463,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,319,040. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Stock Down 2.6 %

GNTX stock opened at $30.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.92. Gentex Co. has a twelve month low of $28.25 and a twelve month high of $37.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $29.98 and its 200-day moving average is $32.11.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is 25.67%.

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.