EntryPoint Capital LLC Makes New $327,000 Investment in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 10,547 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Standard Motor Products by 4.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 16,198 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products in the 3rd quarter valued at about $382,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake 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 period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 129.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,721 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 11,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 6.1% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 43,805 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,454,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Standard Motor Products

In other news, EVP Dale Burks sold 11,005 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,860 shares in the company, valued at $1,546,592. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Standard Motor Products Stock Down 0.8 %

SMP opened at $25.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 2.25. The company has a market cap of $563.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 0.50. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $35.92. The business’s fifty day moving average is $29.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.15.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $343.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.50 million. Analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 4.50%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.81%.

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.