Virtu Financial LLC Acquires 1,598 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,594 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,598 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Gentex by 179.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,000,796 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $59,404,000 after buying an additional 1,285,519 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Gentex by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,787,311 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $80,079,000 after acquiring an additional 386,461 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Gentex by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,368,004 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $159,406,000 after acquiring an additional 285,802 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Gentex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,479,000. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Gentex by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,743 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,630,000 after purchasing an additional 22,180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GNTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $32.50 target price (down from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim set a $30.00 price target on Gentex in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.81.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of GNTX stock opened at $24.76 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.90. Gentex Co. has a 52 week low of $23.50 and a 52 week high of $36.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.14.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Gentex’s payout ratio is 27.27%.

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.