Picton Mahoney Asset Management Takes Position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP

Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 22,037 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 27.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 155,121 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,765,000 after acquiring an additional 33,440 shares in the last quarter. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the 2nd quarter worth $6,024,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in Standard Motor Products during the second quarter worth about $1,251,000. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 28.1% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 415,104 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $12,752,000 after purchasing an additional 91,104 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in Standard Motor Products in the second quarter worth about $1,120,000. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Standard Motor Products in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

Standard Motor Products Stock Down 0.9%

SMP opened at $37.40 on Friday. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.38 and a 1-year high of $46.00. The stock has a market cap of $828.41 million, a PE ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The firm had revenue of $385.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $385.91 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This is a boost from Standard Motor Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Standard Motor Products

In related news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 9,093 shares of Standard Motor Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,543,548.09. The trade was a 18.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

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.