Insider Selling: 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 Standard Motor Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total transaction of $74,646.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 41,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,575,183.72. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

NYSE SMP opened at $39.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $874.51 million, a PE ratio of 19.26 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.52. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.85 and a 12-month high of $46.00.

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

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SMP shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Standard Motor Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Standard Motor Products by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,386,382 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $51,089,000 after purchasing an additional 4,927 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in Standard Motor Products by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,101,199 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $40,579,000 after purchasing an additional 36,688 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in Standard Motor Products by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 996,928 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $34,633,000 after purchasing an additional 16,664 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Standard Motor Products by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 826,471 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $30,455,000 after purchasing an additional 5,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Standard Motor Products by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 503,039 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $18,539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.