Rhumbline Advisers Boosts Stock Position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,896 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,979 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.59% of Standard Motor Products worth $3,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Standard Motor Products in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,710,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 497,258 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $15,405,000 after acquiring an additional 86,640 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products in the fourth quarter worth $2,524,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 331,078 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $10,257,000 after purchasing an additional 69,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,655,886 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $51,299,000 after purchasing an additional 69,000 shares during the period. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Standard Motor Products Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of SMP opened at $30.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $661.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 0.65. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.38 and a 52 week high of $35.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.37. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 2.56%. The company had revenue of $413.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Standard Motor Products’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Standard Motor Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is currently 88.57%.

Standard Motor Products Profile

Standard Motor Products, Inc manufactures and distributes replacement automotive parts in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Vehicle Control, Temperature Control, and Engineered Solutions segments. The company provides components for the ignition, emissions, and fuel delivery systems, such as air injection and induction components, air management valves, regulators and solenoids, exhaust gas recirculation components, fuel injectors and related components, fuel valves, ignition coils, connectors and sockets, modules, pumps, relays and fuses, starting and charging system parts, and vapor and purge components.