Short Interest in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Rises By 13.7%

Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,150,000 shares, an increase of 13.7% from the May 31st total of 4,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In related news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 4,716 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.46, for a total transaction of $162,513.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,707.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gentex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new stake in Gentex during the second quarter worth about $218,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Gentex by 46.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Gentex by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,706,411 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $206,095,000 after buying an additional 230,873 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Gentex by 91.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 127,876 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,619,000 after buying an additional 60,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Gentex during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $93,000. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.83.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.94. 242,211 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,400,691. Gentex has a 12-month low of $27.86 and a 12-month high of $37.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.39. The firm has a market cap of $7.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.93.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $590.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $600.38 million. Gentex had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 18.77%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gentex will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

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.