North Star Investment Management Corp. Takes Position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 33,000 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $823,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. owned approximately 0.15% of Standard Motor Products at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 118,917 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after buying an additional 16,330 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Standard Motor Products by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 108,684 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,367,000 after acquiring an additional 3,771 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased 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 valued at $10,257,000 after acquiring an additional 69,717 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,467 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products during the fourth quarter worth approximately $753,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Standard Motor Products Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of SMP stock opened at $30.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 2.25. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.94.

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

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Standard Motor Products

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.