American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 664,389 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 66.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,657,397 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 664,389 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.73% of Gentex worth $47,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Gentex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Gentex by 138.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gentex in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in 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 worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Gentex during the third quarter worth $125,000. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Gentex Trading Down 3.6 %

NASDAQ:GNTX opened at $23.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.90. Gentex Co. has a 1 year low of $23.50 and a 1 year high of $36.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.29 and a 200-day moving average of $28.11.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.10). Gentex had a net margin of 17.49% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.