Azarias Capital Management L.P. Sells 27,054 Shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP

Key Points

• Azarias Capital Management sold 27,054 shares of Standard Motor Products, reducing its stake by 15.1% to 151,941 shares (about 2.5% of the fund's portfolio and ~0.69% of SMP).
• Standard Motor Products beat Q4 EPS estimates ($0.56 vs. $0.45) with revenue largely in line, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.33 (annualized $1.32) for a 3.5% yield and a 71.35% payout ratio.
• The stock has a market cap of ~$829 million and a P/E of 20.2; analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $49, while institutional investors own about 81.3% of the shares.

Azarias Capital Management L.P. reduced its holdings in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 151,941 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 27,054 shares during the quarter. Standard Motor Products comprises 2.5% of Azarias Capital Management L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Azarias Capital Management L.P. owned approximately 0.69% of Standard Motor Products worth $5,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SMP. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 2.1% during the third quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 24,300 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $992,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,446 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,105 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 7.4% during the third quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 19,095 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 235.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,298 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares in the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Standard Motor Products Stock Down 0.8%

SMP stock opened at $37.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $828.88 million, a P/E ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.38 and a 1-year high of $46.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.83.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $385.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $385.91 million. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 2.31%. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Standard Motor Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Standard Motor Products's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SMP shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Standard Motor Products from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Standard Motor Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Standard Motor Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.00.

Standard Motor Products Company 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.

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