Great Lakes Advisors LLC Takes $2.51 Million Position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 62,984 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $2,507,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned about 0.29% of Standard Motor Products at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,492,360 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $59,411,000 after purchasing an additional 31,688 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,343,609 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $45,172,000 after buying an additional 12,166 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Standard Motor Products in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,215,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Standard Motor Products by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 361,255 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $14,382,000 after buying an additional 13,101 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 315,000 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $10,590,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Standard Motor Products Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE SMP traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $31.16. The stock had a trading volume of 77,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,388. The company's 50 day moving average price is $32.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.66. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.09 and a twelve month high of $41.71. The firm has a market cap of $679.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41 and a beta of 0.61.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The auto parts company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $331.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.84 million. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 2.28%. The business's revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Standard Motor Products's payout ratio is presently 83.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TheStreet lowered shares of Standard Motor Products from a "b" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Standard Motor Products from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 29th.

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.