Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Standard Motor Products by 8.2% in Q1, now holding 2.45% of the company, valued at approximately $13.4 million.
• Standard Motor Products recently reported a 26.7% year-over-year increase in revenue, totaling $493.85 million, and earnings per share of $1.29, beating estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, representing an annual yield of 3.2%, with a payout ratio of 70.45%.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 538,266 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 41,008 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 2.45% of Standard Motor Products worth $13,419,000 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 the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the first quarter worth about $996,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products during the first quarter valued at approximately $823,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 8.4% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 128,896 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $3,213,000 after buying an additional 9,979 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Standard Motor Products by 144.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 25,604 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $638,000 after acquiring an additional 15,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 2,880.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 26,351 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 25,467 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.26% of the company's stock.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

NYSE SMP traded down $0.15 on Friday, reaching $38.75. 139,924 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 176,102. The firm has a market cap of $852.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 2.16. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.38 and a fifty-two week high of $40.18.

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

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Standard Motor Products's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.