Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.11 EPS

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The auto parts company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $385.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.91 million. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 1.79%.

Here are the key takeaways from Standard Motor Products’ conference call:

• Company delivered strong top-line and margin performance, with consolidated Q4 sales up 12.2% and full-year sales up 22.4% (organic growth ~4% excluding Nissens), and adjusted EBITDA expanding to 9.7% of net sales in Q4.
• The Nissens acquisition is performing well—contributing $64M in Q4 and $305M for the year—with mid-single-digit local-currency growth and management expecting cross-selling and cost synergies (targeting a $8M–$12M run rate by end-2026, and saying they’re ahead of plan).
• Management disclosed a material weakness in internal controls over financial reporting at Nissens related to IT controls; remediation (technical fixes and compensating controls) is underway, and auditors found no financial misstatements.
• Operating cash flow fell to $57.4M (down $19.3M) due to inventory build and tariff-driven cost increases, leaving net debt at $546.7M with leverage of 2.7x (management targets 2.0x by end-2026); 2026 guidance is modest (low- to mid-single-digit sales growth and adjusted EBITDA margin of 11%–12%), highlighting continued near-term execution and tariff risks.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

Shares of Standard Motor Products stock traded down $3.67 during trading on Thursday, reaching $39.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 125,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 123,472. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.43. Standard Motor Products has a 52 week low of $21.38 and a 52 week high of $46.00. The firm has a market cap of $867.50 million, a PE ratio of 28.17 and a beta of 0.76.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Standard Motor Products news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 9,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total value of $345,624.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 40,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,543,548.09. The trade was a 18.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,386,382 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $51,089,000 after acquiring an additional 4,927 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 826,471 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $30,455,000 after purchasing an additional 5,319 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 503,039 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $18,539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 412,671 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $15,207,000 after buying an additional 51,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC raised its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 359,189 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $13,236,000 after buying an additional 50,261 shares in the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Standard Motor Products in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of Standard Motor Products in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Standard Motor Products has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

About Standard Motor Products

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.