Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP Shares Sold by Dean Capital Management

Dean Capital Management lowered its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 32.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,405 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 24,925 shares during the quarter. Dean Capital Management’s holdings in Standard Motor Products were worth $2,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SMP. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Standard Motor Products by 368.2% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 221,147 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $6,794,000 after acquiring an additional 173,912 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 956,691 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $29,390,000 after purchasing an additional 166,481 shares during the last quarter. Manatuck Hill Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,102,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 165.5% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 162,041 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,978,000 after purchasing an additional 101,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products during the second quarter worth about $2,905,000. Institutional investors own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Standard Motor Products in a report on Monday, December 29th. One 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Standard Motor Products Trading Down 0.3%

Standard Motor Products stock opened at $36.42 on Monday. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.38 and a 1 year high of $46.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $40.55 and its 200-day moving average is $39.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 2.13. The company has a market cap of $806.59 million, a P/E ratio of 19.68 and a beta of 0.75.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $385.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $385.91 million. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 13.15%. On average, equities analysts expect that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

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

About Standard Motor Products

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.