Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) VP Ray Nicholas Sells 5,822 Shares

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) VP Ray Nicholas sold 5,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.75, for a total transaction of $231,424.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 35,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,404,248.25. The trade was a 14.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• On Monday, June 1st, Ray Nicholas sold 1,950 shares of Standard Motor Products stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total transaction of $74,646.00.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

SMP traded up $0.19 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.65. 56,361 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 125,576. The company has a market cap of $882.73 million, a PE ratio of 19.44 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.56. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.44 and a 1 year high of $46.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

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

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is 64.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SMP. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 76.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 7,560.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,149 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 235.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,298 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter valued at about $99,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the 3rd quarter valued at about $108,000. 81.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.