Dean Capital Management Purchases 14,812 Shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP

Key Points

• Dean Capital Management increased its stake in Standard Motor Products, purchasing an additional 14,812 shares, bringing its total to 67,537 shares, valued at approximately $1.68 million.
• Standard Motor Products was upgraded from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating increased analyst confidence in the stock.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $1.29, surpassing analyst estimates by $0.32, alongside a 26.7% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.

Dean Capital Management grew its position in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) by 28.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,537 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,812 shares during the period. Dean Capital Management owned about 0.31% of Standard Motor Products worth $1,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 2.1% in the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,309,714 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $32,651,000 after buying an additional 26,712 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 10.1% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 790,210 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $19,700,000 after buying an additional 72,753 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 8.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 538,266 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $13,419,000 after buying an additional 41,008 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 334,037 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $10,348,000 after buying an additional 12,379 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 3.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 255,278 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $6,364,000 after buying an additional 8,987 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Standard Motor Products from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th.

Standard Motor Products Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:SMP opened at $40.55 on Tuesday. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.38 and a 1 year high of $40.76. The company has a market cap of $891.68 million, a PE ratio of 23.04 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock's 50-day moving average is $35.46 and its 200 day moving average is $30.23.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The auto parts company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.32. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 2.39%.The company had revenue of $493.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $450.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Standard Motor Products's revenue was up 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Standard Motor Products's payout ratio is currently 70.45%.

About Standard Motor Products

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.

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