33,000 Shares in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) Bought by North Star Investment Management Corp.

North Star Investment Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 33,000 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SMP. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,651 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its position in Standard Motor Products by 68.0% during the 1st quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,200 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Standard Motor Products during the first quarter valued at $110,000. Finally, Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the fourth quarter worth $239,000. Institutional investors own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

SMP opened at $30.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 2.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.94. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.38 and a 52-week high of $35.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $661.85 million, a P/E ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 0.65.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $413.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.38 million. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. This is an increase from Standard Motor Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is currently 88.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

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.