West Michigan Advisors LLC Sells 326,605 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

West Michigan Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,518,923 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 326,605 shares during the period. Gentex makes up about 13.2% of West Michigan Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. West Michigan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $43,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Gentex by 179.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,000,796 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $59,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,519 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Gentex by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,368,004 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $159,406,000 after purchasing an additional 285,802 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Gentex by 54.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 107,930 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,205,000 after purchasing an additional 38,027 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its stake in Gentex by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,124,403 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,304,000 after purchasing an additional 20,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hendershot Investments Inc. boosted its position in Gentex by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 659,066 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $18,935,000 after acquiring an additional 24,231 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Price Performance

Shares of Gentex stock opened at $24.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.91. Gentex Co. has a 52-week low of $24.07 and a 52-week high of $37.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.90.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 last year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Gentex’s payout ratio is 27.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GNTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Gentex from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 price objective on Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $32.50 price objective (down from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.31.

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.