JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Stock Position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 162.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,249,230 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 3,248,434 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 2.31% of Gentex worth $150,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Gentex during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Gentex by 138.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Gentex during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in Gentex by 32.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Gentex in the third quarter valued at $125,000. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 price target on shares of Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $32.50 target price (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim set a $30.00 price target on Gentex in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Six research 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.81.

Gentex Stock Performance

Gentex stock opened at $23.46 on Wednesday. Gentex Co. has a 1 year low of $22.87 and a 1 year high of $36.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.97. The company has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.27%.

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.