Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 210,247 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 23,048 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $5,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GNTX. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Gentex in the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Gentex by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 189,561 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,418,000 after buying an additional 47,150 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gentex by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,813 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 1,737 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Gentex by 1.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,321,634 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $30,794,000 after buying an additional 23,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Gentex by 255.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 81,142 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,891,000 after buying an additional 58,323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of GNTX stock opened at $24.36 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.25 and a 200 day moving average of $25.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 0.78. Gentex Corporation has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $29.38.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $570.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.10 million. Gentex had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 15.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 7th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is 28.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GNTX. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 price target on shares of Gentex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of Gentex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Robert W. Baird set a $29.00 price objective on Gentex in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (up previously from $28.00) on shares of Gentex in a report on Monday, October 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.29.

Gentex Company Profile

Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX) is a global technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of automotive and aerospace products. The company’s primary business centers on automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and camera-based driver monitoring technologies. In the automotive sector, Gentex supplies exterior and interior mirrors with integrated electronics, connectivity features, and safety capabilities to many of the world’s leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).