CCM Investment Group LLC Acquires Shares of 24,455 Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX)

CCM Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 24,455 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 523,489 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $12,197,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Gentex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,868,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 219,454 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,113,000 after buying an additional 12,168 shares during the last quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gentex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $359,000. Finally, Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 682,684 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $15,907,000 after buying an additional 105,446 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Trading Down 0.2%

Gentex stock opened at $26.62 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.40. Gentex Corporation has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $31.75.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $657.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $591.94 million. Gentex had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 16th that authorizes the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto parts company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. Gentex’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

Insider Activity

In other Gentex news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.87, for a total transaction of $86,082.68. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,824.93. This represents a 38.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GNTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Gentex in a report on Friday, July 11th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Gentex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Gentex from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.63.

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.