Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) VP Sells $74,646.00 in Stock

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) VP Ray Nicholas sold 1,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total value of $74,646.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 41,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,575,183.72. The trade was a 4.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Standard Motor Products Trading Up 2.2%

SMP stock traded up $0.83 on Tuesday, reaching $39.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 116,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 108,730. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.50. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.85 and a 12-month high of $46.00. The firm has a market cap of $876.91 million, a PE ratio of 19.21 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 2.23.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.09. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 2.51%.The company had revenue of $451.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $429.07 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SMP. Delphi Management Inc. MA boosted its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 506.3% during the fourth quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 34,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after buying an additional 28,944 shares during the last quarter. Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,327,000. Tredje AP fonden purchased a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter valued at about $925,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 405.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,990 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,081,000 after purchasing an additional 40,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 850.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 84,194 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,103,000 after purchasing an additional 75,339 shares during the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

About Standard Motor Products

Standard Motor Products, Inc, headquartered in Long Island City, New York, is a leading manufacturer and distributor of aftermarket and original equipment automotive parts. Since its founding in 1919, the company has focused on engineering, testing, and supplying ignition and temperature management products for passenger cars and light trucks. Its product lineup includes ignition coils, spark plug wires, sensors, switches, heating and air conditioning controls, and related electronic components.

The company operates through two primary segments: Engine Management and Temperature Control.