Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Strong Earnings

Key Points

• Standard Motor Products hit a new 52-week high of $36.21 after reporting earnings per share of $1.29, exceeding expectations by $0.32, alongside revenues of $493.85 million for the quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.4%, with a payout ratio of 88.57%.
• Major hedge funds including Vanguard Group and Gamco Investors have increased their stakes in Standard Motor Products, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.

Shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $36.09 and last traded at $36.21, with a volume of 121867 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.92.

The auto parts company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.32. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 2.02%. The company had revenue of $493.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $450.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Standard Motor Products's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,655,886 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $51,299,000 after buying an additional 69,000 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 2.1% in the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,309,714 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $32,651,000 after buying an additional 26,712 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 10.1% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 790,210 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $19,700,000 after buying an additional 72,753 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 8.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 538,266 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $13,419,000 after buying an additional 41,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 494,489 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $15,323,000 after buying an additional 9,190 shares during the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Standard Motor Products Stock Up 3.3%

The stock has a market cap of $792.82 million, a PE ratio of 25.76 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $31.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

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.

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