Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. Buys 15,219 Shares of Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. grew its stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 2.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 697,903 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 15,219 shares during the quarter. Gentex makes up approximately 3.1% of Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Gentex were worth $15,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 1,471.0% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Gentex by 85.4% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,222 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Gentex by 305.7% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,217 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Gentex during the first quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Steph & Co. bought a new stake in Gentex during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GNTX shares. Zacks Research lowered Gentex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 target price on Gentex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gentex in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.29.

Gentex Price Performance

Shares of Gentex stock opened at $23.45 on Monday. Gentex Corporation has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $31.41. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 0.84.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.01). Gentex had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 15.61%.The firm had revenue of $655.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Gentex has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 16th that authorizes the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto parts company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 8th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 8th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.24%.

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.