Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 24,319 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $753,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.11% of Standard Motor Products as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Standard Motor Products by 147.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,031 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 64.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,745 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 5.0% in the fourth 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. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,467 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter worth about $382,000. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

NYSE:SMP traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.96. 176,958 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 146,160. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $29.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $567.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 0.50. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.56 and a fifty-two week high of $35.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 2.25.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $343.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $292.50 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related 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 value 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. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 5.00% of the stock is owned by company 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.