Vanguard Group Inc. Has $51.30 Million Stock Holdings in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,655,886 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 69,000 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 7.62% of Standard Motor Products worth $51,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMP. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 12,896 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Standard Motor Products by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,421 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Standard Motor Products by 20.6% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,467 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 147.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,031 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dale Burks sold 11,005 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.20, for a total value of $299,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,546,592. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.00% of the company's stock.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

Standard Motor Products stock traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $23.70. 31,419 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 166,073. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $26.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.09. The firm has a market cap of $518.11 million, a P/E ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 0.57. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.38 and a 1-year high of $35.92. 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 (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.10. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 2.56%. The business had revenue of $343.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.50 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Standard Motor Products's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Standard Motor Products 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.