Commerce Bank Makes New Investment in Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP

Commerce Bank purchased a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 20,204 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $787,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,142 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Standard Motor Products by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 32,443 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,196,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 6,946 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 76.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Standard Motor Products by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 11,679 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dale Burks sold 5,798 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total value of $226,122.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,623. This trade represents a 10.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Ray Nicholas sold 5,822 shares of Standard Motor Products stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.75, for a total transaction of $231,424.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 35,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,404,248.25. This trade represents a 14.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 26,121 shares of company stock worth $1,018,217 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research cut Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Standard Motor Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

Shares of Standard Motor Products stock opened at $36.95 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 2.00. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a one year low of $34.27 and a one year high of $46.00. The company has a market cap of $825.46 million, a PE ratio of 16.50 and a beta of 0.82.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The auto parts company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.01. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $526.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $511.68 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.93%.

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.