Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 108,684 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,771 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Standard Motor Products were worth $3,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SMP. Creative Planning bought a new stake in Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter valued at $218,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Standard Motor Products by 3,237.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,005 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 3,885 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in Standard Motor Products by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,000 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Standard Motor Products by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 11,760 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in Standard Motor Products by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,533 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

Shares of SMP stock opened at $28.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.09 and a 12 month high of $35.92. The company has a market capitalization of $616.14 million, a P/E ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 0.52.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $343.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.50 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 4,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.11, for a total value of $161,340.30. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,385 shares in the company, valued at $1,582,192.35. The trade was a 9.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

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.