Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 6,819 Shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,913 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,819 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Standard Motor Products were worth $3,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 153.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 906 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Standard Motor Products by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,745 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 685 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the third quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter valued at $83,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 3,237.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,885 shares in the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Standard Motor Products news, CEO Eric Sills sold 1,721 shares of Standard Motor Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.97, for a total transaction of $60,183.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,142,515.47. The trade was a 0.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Ray Nicholas sold 4,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.11, for a total transaction of $161,340.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,385 shares in the company, valued at $1,582,192.35. This trade represents a 9.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,184 shares of company stock valued at $387,041. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Standard Motor Products Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE SMP opened at $30.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $669.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.52. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a one year low of $26.09 and a one year high of $41.71. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.42.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The auto parts company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $399.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.10 million. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is 71.60%.

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.