Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) EVP Dale Burks Sells 3,500 Shares of Stock

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) EVP Dale Burks sold 3,500 shares of Standard Motor Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.76, for a total value of $135,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 53,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,915.80. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Friday, August 14th, Dale Burks sold 9,051 shares of Standard Motor Products stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.71, for a total value of $350,364.21.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

SMP stock opened at $38.82 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.85. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.27 and a 12-month high of $46.00. The firm has a market cap of $867.17 million, a P/E ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

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

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is 58.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SMP. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products during the second quarter worth about $5,492,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,140,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Standard Motor Products during the 2nd quarter valued at about $337,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Standard Motor Products during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMP has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Weiss Ratings upgraded 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 Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Standard Motor Products has an average 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.