Gabelli Funds LLC Raises Holdings in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 323,500 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 1.49% of Standard Motor Products worth $10,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 12,896 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,421 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,651 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,118 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,467 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Insider Activity

In other Standard Motor Products news, EVP Dale Burks sold 11,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.20, for a total transaction of $299,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,546,592. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

SMP stock opened at $23.40 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.09. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.38 and a 12-month high of $35.92. The firm has a market cap of $511.57 million, a P/E ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $343.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.50 million. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 2.56%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.96%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.81%.

Standard Motor Products Company Profile

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.