Legal & General Group Plc Acquires New Shares in Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 54,623 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,129,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.24% of Standard Motor Products at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 76.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 7,560.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,149 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted 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 worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Standard Motor Products during the third quarter worth approximately $99,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Standard Motor Products during the third quarter worth approximately $108,000. 81.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Standard Motor Products

In related news, EVP Dale Burks sold 9,051 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.71, for a total value of $350,364.21. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 56,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,204,728.05. This trade represents a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 18,349 shares of company stock worth $712,146 over the last three months. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on SMP. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Standard Motor Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Standard Motor Products presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Standard Motor Products Stock Down 0.3%

SMP opened at $41.42 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $38.59 and a 200-day moving average of $38.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $925.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.27 and a 1-year high of $46.00.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The auto parts company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $526.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $511.68 million. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 13.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is presently 58.93%.

Standard Motor Products 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.