North Star Investment Management Corp. Acquires New Position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 33,000 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $823,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. owned approximately 0.15% of Standard Motor Products as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Standard Motor Products during the fourth quarter valued at $2,710,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 497,258 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $15,405,000 after purchasing an additional 86,640 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,524,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 331,078 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $10,257,000 after purchasing an additional 69,717 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,655,886 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $51,299,000 after buying an additional 69,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.26% of the company's stock.

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 note on Monday, March 3rd.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

SMP traded up $0.60 during trading on Thursday, reaching $30.68. 223,519 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 168,288. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.38 and a 12-month high of $35.92. The company's 50-day moving average is $27.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $674.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 0.65.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.02% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The firm had revenue of $413.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This is a boost from Standard Motor Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. Standard Motor Products's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.57%.

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.