JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 15,979 Shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) by 37.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,086 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,979 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.27% of Standard Motor Products worth $1,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 147.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,031 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,651 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products during the fourth quarter valued at about $244,000. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products in the 4th quarter worth approximately $289,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,421 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.26% of the company's stock.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

Standard Motor Products stock traded up $2.72 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.08. The company had a trading volume of 509,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 166,328. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $25.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.59. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.38 and a 52 week high of $35.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $615.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 0.57.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.37. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $413.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.38 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The company's revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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 will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.58%. This is a boost from Standard Motor Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Standard Motor Products's payout ratio is presently 100.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Standard Motor Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Standard Motor Products

In other news, EVP Dale Burks sold 11,005 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.20, for a total transaction of $299,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,860 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,546,592. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 5.00% of the company's stock.

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.