Kestra Investment Management LLC Sells 17,480 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Kestra Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 40.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,088 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 17,480 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gentex in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,419 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Gentex in the third quarter valued at about $125,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 159.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,133 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 3,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 13.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,664 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gentex Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX opened at $24.77 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $27.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.18. The company has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.91. Gentex Co. has a twelve month low of $24.35 and a twelve month high of $37.58.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 earnings per share 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 period last year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 8th. Gentex’s payout ratio is 27.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GNTX. UBS Group lowered their target price on Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $32.50 target price (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Gentex from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Gentex from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.06.

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.