Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) EVP Dale Burks Sells 9,051 Shares of Stock

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) EVP Dale Burks sold 9,051 shares of Standard Motor Products stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.71, for a total transaction of $350,364.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 56,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,204,728.05. This trade represents a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Dale Burks also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 18th, Dale Burks sold 3,500 shares of Standard Motor Products stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.76, for a total transaction of $135,660.00.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SMP opened at $38.82 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $38.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.85. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.27 and a 52-week high of $46.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $867.17 million, a P/E ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 0.82.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The auto parts company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $526.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $511.68 million. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 2.78%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products during the second quarter valued at approximately $158,258,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Standard Motor Products during the 2nd quarter valued at $10,882,000. Congruence Capital LLC bought a new position in Standard Motor Products during the 4th quarter valued at $6,571,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 207.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 259,180 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $9,004,000 after purchasing an additional 174,986 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 368.2% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 221,147 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $6,794,000 after purchasing an additional 173,912 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SMP. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Standard Motor Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Standard Motor Products from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.