Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,913 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,819 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.48% of Standard Motor Products worth $3,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 153.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 906 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 64.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,745 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 685 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter valued at about $73,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 3,237.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,005 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 3,885 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

NYSE SMP opened at $30.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.09 and a 12 month high of $41.71. The stock has a market cap of $669.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $32.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.42.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The auto parts company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.19. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $399.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.10 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Standard Motor Products news, insider Carmine Joseph Broccole sold 913 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total transaction of $31,918.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 81,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,840,185.36. This represents a 1.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Ray Nicholas sold 4,730 shares of Standard Motor Products stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.11, for a total value of $161,340.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,385 shares in the company, valued at $1,582,192.35. This trade represents a 9.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,184 shares of company stock worth $387,041. 5.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.