American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 497,258 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,640 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Standard Motor Products were worth $15,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SMP. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Standard Motor Products during the third quarter valued at $3,876,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,710,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 26.7% during 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 buying an additional 69,717 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 359.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 48,522 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,609,000 after acquiring an additional 37,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Standard Motor Products by 5.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 485,299 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $16,115,000 after acquiring an additional 27,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded 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 NYSE:SMP opened at $24.91 on Tuesday. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.40 and a 12 month high of $35.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.08 and its 200 day moving average is $31.04. The company has a market capitalization of $544.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38 and a beta of 0.50. 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 (NYSE:SMP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $343.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.50 million. Research analysts predict that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.81%.

Insider Activity at Standard Motor Products

In other Standard Motor Products news, EVP Dale Burks sold 11,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 56,860 shares in the company, valued at $1,546,592. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Standard Motor Products Company 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.