Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Grows Stake in Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 996,928 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,664 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned 4.48% of Standard Motor Products worth $34,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SMP. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Standard Motor Products by 76.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 7,560.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,149 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Standard Motor Products by 235.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,298 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,613 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $99,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Standard Motor Products during the third quarter valued at $108,000. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 5,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.75, for a total value of $231,424.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 35,327 shares in the company, valued at $1,404,248.25. This trade represents a 14.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Standard Motor Products Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE SMP opened at $38.63 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.80. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.53 and a 1-year high of $46.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $860.02 million, a P/E ratio of 18.94 and a beta of 0.81.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $451.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $429.07 million. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 2.51%. Equities research analysts expect that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SMP. Zacks Research downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Standard Motor Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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.