Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) VP Ray Nicholas Sells 457 Shares

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) VP Ray Nicholas sold 457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $17,530.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 49,702 shares in the company, valued at $1,906,568.72. This trade represents a 0.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Ray Nicholas also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 10th, Ray Nicholas sold 128 shares of Standard Motor Products stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $4,888.32.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

NYSE:SMP traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $38.40. 35,399 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 166,338. The firm has a market capitalization of $844.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82 and a beta of 0.68. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.38 and a 1-year high of $42.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.64 and a 200 day moving average of $34.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The auto parts company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.22. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 12.98%. The company had revenue of $498.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $503.33 million. Research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CSM Advisors LLC bought a new position in Standard Motor Products in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,024,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 368.2% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 221,147 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $6,794,000 after purchasing an additional 173,912 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 21.1% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 956,691 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $29,390,000 after purchasing an additional 166,481 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 165.5% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 162,041 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,978,000 after purchasing an additional 101,008 shares during the period. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products in the second quarter valued at $2,905,000. Institutional investors own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of Standard Motor Products in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Standard Motor Products in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Standard Motor Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.