Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 24,319 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $753,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Standard Motor Products at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,467 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 331,078 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $10,257,000 after purchasing an additional 69,717 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 108,684 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,367,000 after purchasing an additional 3,771 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 118,917 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 16,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 110,684 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,429,000 after purchasing an additional 5,341 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Standard Motor Products

In other Standard Motor Products news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 4,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.11, for a total transaction of $161,340.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,582,192.35. The trade was a 9.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMP opened at $27.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.09 and a fifty-two week high of $35.92. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.69. The company has a market cap of $609.18 million, a PE ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is 100.81%.

Standard Motor Products Company 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.