Ameriprise Financial Inc. Trims Holdings in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,905 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 29,504 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.70% of Standard Motor Products worth $4,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 12,896 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,421 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Standard Motor Products by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,651 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,118 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Standard Motor Products by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,467 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Standard Motor Products

In related news, EVP Dale Burks sold 11,005 shares of Standard Motor Products stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.20, for a total value of $299,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,546,592. This trade represents a 16.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company's stock.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

Shares of SMP stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $30.28. The stock had a trading volume of 3,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 168,260. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $26.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $665.58 million, a PE ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.62. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.38 and a 12 month high of $35.92. 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 (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) 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 during 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. On average, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Standard Motor Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Standard Motor Products's dividend payout ratio is 88.57%.

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.