Congruence Capital LLC Invests $6.57 Million in Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP

Congruence Capital LLC bought a new position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 178,311 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,571,000. Standard Motor Products accounts for about 2.4% of Congruence Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Congruence Capital LLC owned approximately 0.81% of Standard Motor Products as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMP. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 235.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,298 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the third quarter worth approximately $99,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the third quarter worth approximately $108,000. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the third quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the second quarter worth approximately $205,000. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in 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 downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Standard Motor Products currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Insider Activity

In other Standard Motor Products news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 5,822 shares of the company’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 transaction, the vice president owned 35,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,404,248.25. This represents a 14.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

NYSE SMP opened at $39.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $877.62 million, a P/E ratio of 19.33 and a beta of 0.81. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.44 and a 1 year high of $46.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 2.23.

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

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.71%.

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.