Squarepoint Ops LLC Buys 144,407 Shares of Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 97.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 292,332 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 144,407 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $7,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. XXEC Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gentex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,705,220,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Gentex during the second quarter worth approximately $550,287,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Gentex by 14,398.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,726,057 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $179,785,000 after purchasing an additional 7,672,769 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Gentex by 2,355.1% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 6,401,978 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $161,778,000 after purchasing an additional 6,141,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new position in Gentex during the second quarter valued at approximately $79,924,000. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GNTX. Freedom Capital cut shares of Gentex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Gentex in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Gentex from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Gentex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Gentex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.80.

Gentex Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of GNTX stock opened at $22.68 on Friday. Gentex Corporation has a 12 month low of $20.48 and a 12 month high of $29.38. The firm has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.60 and a 200-day moving average of $23.36.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. Gentex had a net margin of 15.50% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $651.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. Gentex’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Gentex Corporation will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 7th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.40%.

Gentex Profile

Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX) is a global technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of automotive and aerospace products. The company’s primary business centers on automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and camera-based driver monitoring technologies. In the automotive sector, Gentex supplies exterior and interior mirrors with integrated electronics, connectivity features, and safety capabilities to many of the world’s leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).