Touchstone Capital Inc. Sells 2,603 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Touchstone Capital Inc. decreased its position in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 249,224 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 2,603 shares during the quarter. Gentex makes up about 7.7% of Touchstone Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Touchstone Capital Inc. owned 0.11% of Gentex worth $8,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GNTX. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gentex during the third quarter worth about $618,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gentex by 112.3% during the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 24,876 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $809,000 after buying an additional 13,161 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in Gentex by 130.7% in the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 123,805 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,029,000 after purchasing an additional 70,138 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Gentex by 1.9% in the third quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,951,077 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $63,488,000 after purchasing an additional 36,461 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its position in Gentex by 74.0% in the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 58,153 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 24,738 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total value of $204,326.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,555 shares in the company, valued at $2,122,491.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Gentex news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total value of $446,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total transaction of $204,326.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GNTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. B. Riley lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Gentex from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.67.

Gentex Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX opened at $36.12 on Friday. Gentex Co. has a 52-week low of $25.85 and a 52-week high of $37.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.14 and a 200-day moving average of $32.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.99.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. Gentex had a net margin of 18.63% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company had revenue of $589.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $563.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Gentex Co. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.09%.

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.