Insider Selling: Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) EVP Sells 1,180 Shares of Stock

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) EVP Dale Burks sold 1,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.30, for a total value of $45,194.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 60,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,306,272.80. This trade represents a 1.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, November 10th, Dale Burks sold 1,002 shares of Standard Motor Products stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.41, for a total transaction of $38,486.82.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SMP traded up $1.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.59. 62,668 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 166,553. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.65 and its 200 day moving average is $34.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $870.83 million, a P/E ratio of 22.49 and a beta of 0.68. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a one year low of $21.38 and a one year high of $42.13.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The auto parts company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.22. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 2.39%.The company had revenue of $498.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $503.33 million. On average, research analysts expect that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is 88.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SMP. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 4,842.1% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 939 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Standard Motor Products by 188.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,295 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Standard Motor Products by 235.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,298 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the 3rd quarter valued at $108,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,609 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $172,000 after buying an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Standard Motor Products from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Standard Motor Products in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Standard Motor Products in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.