American Century Companies Inc. Sells 59,744 Shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 404,121 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 59,744 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.84% of Standard Motor Products worth $16,496,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 235.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,298 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 1,613 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Standard Motor Products in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $108,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products during the second quarter worth approximately $205,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products during the second quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products in the first quarter valued at approximately $214,000. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Standard Motor Products news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 9,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total value of $345,624.93. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 40,609 shares in the company, valued at $1,543,548.09. This represents a 18.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

NYSE:SMP opened at $36.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $804.56 million, a PE ratio of 19.64 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.38 and a 12-month high of $46.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.43.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 2.31%.The company had revenue of $385.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $385.91 million. Research analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Standard Motor Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is presently 71.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SMP. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Standard Motor Products in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Standard Motor Products has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

Standard Motor Products Company Profile

Standard Motor Products, Inc, headquartered in Long Island City, New York, is a leading manufacturer and distributor of aftermarket and original equipment automotive parts. Since its founding in 1919, the company has focused on engineering, testing, and supplying ignition and temperature management products for passenger cars and light trucks. Its product lineup includes ignition coils, spark plug wires, sensors, switches, heating and air conditioning controls, and related electronic components.

The company operates through two primary segments: Engine Management and Temperature Control.