Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. SMP has seen an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with SMP holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of metrics shareholders can use to track Mr. Market. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a significant amount (see just how much).
Equally as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the financial markets. Obviously, there are lots of reasons for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a glance at the recent action encompassing Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP).
Hedge fund activity in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)
Heading into 2013, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 56% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.
According to our comprehensive database, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors had the most valuable position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP), worth close to $13.1 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $7.6 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Now, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, established the biggest position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP). Renaissance Technologies had 1.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors also initiated a $0.7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Kroch’s GRT Capital Partners, and Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time period, Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP). These stocks are Meritor Inc (NYSE:MTOR), Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP), Gentherm Inc (NASDAQ:THRM), Remy International Inc (NASDAQ:REMY), and Federal-Mogul Corporation (NASDAQ:FDML). This group of stocks belong to the auto parts industry and their market caps resemble SMP’s market cap.
