Invenomic Capital Management LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Invenomic Capital Management LP lowered its position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 90,844 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 14,537 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP owned about 0.42% of Standard Motor Products worth $2,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the period. Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new position in Standard Motor Products during the fourth quarter valued at about $239,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Standard Motor Products during the fourth quarter valued at about $244,000. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Standard Motor Products during the fourth quarter valued at about $289,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.26% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dale Burks sold 11,005 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.20, for a total value of $299,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,860 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,546,592. This represents a 16.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

SMP traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $29.78. 121,335 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 169,083. The firm has a market cap of $654.59 million, a P/E ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 0.62. The stock's fifty day moving average is $25.52 and its 200 day moving average is $29.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a one year low of $21.38 and a one year high of $35.92.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $413.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.38 million. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Standard Motor Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Standard Motor Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.57%.

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.