Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. cut its stake in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) by 72.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,703 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 48,523 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned about 0.09% of Standard Motor Products worth $745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SMP. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Standard Motor Products by 85.8% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 691 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Standard Motor Products by 145.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 938 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Standard Motor Products by 131.5% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,366 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 776 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Standard Motor Products by 47.4% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,217 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter worth $85,000. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet downgraded Standard Motor Products from a "b" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Standard Motor Products from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 29th.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

SMP traded up $0.20 on Wednesday, reaching $33.40. 75,178 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 133,262. The company's 50-day moving average price is $35.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.00. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.09 and a fifty-two week high of $41.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $732.02 million, a PE ratio of 21.77 and a beta of 0.61.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The auto parts company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.25). Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 2.51%. The firm had revenue of $290.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.84 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. Standard Motor Products's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.33%.

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.