William Blair Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 929,813 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 19,180 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Standard Motor Products were worth $28,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 783,593 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $26,015,000 after purchasing an additional 19,652 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 485,299 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $16,115,000 after purchasing an additional 27,210 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Standard Motor Products by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 331,078 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $10,257,000 after acquiring an additional 69,717 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Standard Motor Products by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 192,227 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $6,339,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the period. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in Standard Motor Products by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 165,205 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $5,485,000 after acquiring an additional 10,360 shares during the period. 81.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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 Stock Performance

Shares of SMP stock opened at $25.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $566.99 million, a PE ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 0.50. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.68 and a 52-week high of $35.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.42. 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) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $343.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.50 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is 100.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Standard Motor Products news, EVP Dale Burks sold 11,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.20, for a total transaction of $299,336.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,546,592. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.