Jensen Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,920 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,800 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. owned 0.08% of Gentex worth $5,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Gentex by 179.7% in the third 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Gentex in the fourth quarter worth about $24,479,000. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in Gentex by 249.1% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 617,657 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $18,338,000 after buying an additional 440,725 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Gentex in the fourth quarter worth about $11,815,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in 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 worth $80,079,000 after buying an additional 386,461 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gentex Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of GNTX opened at $24.31 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.87 and a 200 day moving average of $28.49. Gentex Co. has a twelve month low of $23.63 and a twelve month high of $36.75.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its 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 return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 17.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GNTX. Guggenheim set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Gentex in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $32.50 target price (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 target price on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gentex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.81.

Gentex Company Profile

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.