Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Takes Position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 39,938 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $996,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.18% of Standard Motor Products at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Standard Motor Products Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of SMP traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $30.33. The company had a trading volume of 313,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 163,846. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $666.54 million, a PE ratio of 21.66 and a beta of 0.65. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a one year low of $21.38 and a one year high of $35.92. The company's fifty day moving average price is $28.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.87.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $413.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.38 million. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 2.02%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Standard Motor Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Standard Motor Products's payout ratio is 88.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.