Praxis Investment Management Inc. Invests $359,000 in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Praxis Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 15,410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Gentex by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,023,056 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $517,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038,912 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Gentex by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,516,817 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $158,498,000 after acquiring an additional 86,929 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gentex by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,423,820 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $155,861,000 after acquiring an additional 55,816 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gentex by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,415,871 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $155,598,000 after acquiring an additional 356,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Gentex by 162.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,249,230 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $150,810,000 after acquiring an additional 3,248,434 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gentex Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Gentex stock opened at $21.25 on Monday. Gentex Corporation has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $35.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.54. The firm has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.82.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.43. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.01%. The business had revenue of $576.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GNTX. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Gentex from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Gentex from $29.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Baird R W lowered Gentex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.31.

Insider Activity at Gentex

In related news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.87, for a total value of $86,082.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,824.93. The trade was a 38.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

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.