Royce & Associates LP Sells 251,449 Shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP

Royce & Associates LP reduced its stake in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,064,511 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 251,449 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 4.84% of Standard Motor Products worth $43,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SMP. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its stake in 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 valued at $29,390,000 after purchasing an additional 166,481 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Standard Motor Products by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 498,980 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $15,330,000 after buying an additional 6,696 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in Standard Motor Products by 28.1% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 415,104 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $12,752,000 after buying an additional 91,104 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Standard Motor Products by 5.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 327,080 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $10,048,000 after acquiring an additional 15,468 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Standard Motor Products by 368.2% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 221,147 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $6,794,000 after acquiring an additional 173,912 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Standard Motor Products news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 9,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total transaction of $345,624.93. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 40,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,543,548.09. This trade represents a 18.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Standard Motor Products

Here are the key news stories impacting Standard Motor Products this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat consensus — SMP reported $0.56 EPS vs. $0.45 expected and revenue of $385.1M (up ~12% YoY), with operating income and adjusted EPS rising. The company also raised its dividend, which supports income-oriented investors. Standard Motor Q4 Earnings Top Estimates, Dividend Raised
• Positive Sentiment: Full-year results and margin gains — FY net sales rose to $1.79B (including Nissens acquisition), adjusted diluted EPS and adjusted EBITDA margin improved materially year-over-year, signaling operating leverage as integration progresses. Standard Motor Products, Inc. Releases 2025 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings details and analyst perspective — multiple write-ups and the earnings presentation provide metric-level context (margins, ROE, revenue mix excluding Nissens) for investors modeling FY26. Useful for verifying whether beat reflects one-time items or sustainable improvements. Standard Motor Products (SMP) Q4 Earnings: How Key Metrics Compare to Wall Street Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Call transcript and slides available — Management discussed Nissens integration progress and drivers of margin expansion; the transcript and slide deck provide direct commentary for investors assessing sustainability of trends. Standard Motor Products, Inc. 2025 Q4 – Results – Earnings Call Presentation
• Negative Sentiment: Conservative 2026 guidance disappointed some — management outlined low- to mid-single-digit sales growth for 2026 and targeted adjusted EBITDA margin of 11–12%, a cadence that some investors view as cautious given recent momentum, contributing to intraday weakness after the release. Standard Motor Products outlines low to mid-single-digit sales growth for 2026 while advancing Nissens integration
• Negative Sentiment: Rising short interest — February short interest jumped ~19% to ~858K shares (~4.1% of float), increasing potential selling pressure and volatility if sentiment turns negative. Standard Motor Products Stock Page
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction commentary — some outlets note the stock fell after the print as investors focused on tempered guidance despite the beat, explaining recent intraday swings. Why Standard Motor Products, Inc.’s (SMP) Stock Is Down 6.64%

Standard Motor Products Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Standard Motor Products stock opened at $39.67 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.52 and a 200 day moving average of $39.45. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.38 and a 1 year high of $46.00. The firm has a market cap of $872.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 2.31%.The firm had revenue of $385.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.91 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Standard Motor Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is 94.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Standard Motor Products in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Standard Motor Products in a report on Monday, November 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.