Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 656 Shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,479 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 656 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Standard Motor Products were worth $417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 26,313 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products in the fourth quarter worth about $549,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products in the fourth quarter worth about $370,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products in the fourth quarter worth about $398,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 3,928.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 4,557 shares in the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Standard Motor Products Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:SMP opened at $32.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 2.45. The company has a market cap of $740.17 million, a PE ratio of 21.29 and a beta of 0.61. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.09 and a 52-week high of $41.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.92.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The auto parts company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $290.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.84 million. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 2.51%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SMP shares. StockNews.com upgraded Standard Motor Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 29th. TheStreet downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd.

Standard Motor Products 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.