Polymer Capital Management US LLC Acquires New Position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 7,700 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMP. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,876,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Standard Motor Products in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,710,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Standard Motor Products by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 497,258 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $15,405,000 after acquiring an additional 86,640 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 331,078 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $10,257,000 after acquiring an additional 69,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,655,886 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $51,299,000 after purchasing an additional 69,000 shares in the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Dale Burks sold 11,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.20, for a total value of $299,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,546,592. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

Standard Motor Products Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE SMP opened at $22.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $501.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.15 and a beta of 0.57. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.18 and a twelve month high of $35.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.33 and its 200 day moving average is $30.70.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.10. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 2.56%. The firm had revenue of $343.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.50 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.81%.

About Standard Motor Products

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.