Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Acquires Shares of 54,230 Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 54,230 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,113,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SMP. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 76.7% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Standard Motor Products by 7,560.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,149 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Standard Motor Products by 235.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,298 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 1,613 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Standard Motor Products during the third quarter worth $99,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the 3rd quarter valued at $108,000. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 5,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.75, for a total transaction of $231,424.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 35,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,404,248.25. This trade represents a 14.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dale Burks sold 3,500 shares of Standard Motor Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.76, for a total transaction of $135,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 53,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,915.80. This trade represents a 6.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 20,323 shares of company stock worth $792,095 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

NYSE SMP opened at $38.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $867.17 million, a PE ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 0.82. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.27 and a twelve month high of $46.00.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The auto parts company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.01. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $526.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $511.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Standard Motor Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.