Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on SMP. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a 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. According to MarketBeat, Standard Motor Products has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Standard Motor Products Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of SMP opened at $39.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Standard Motor Products has a 1 year low of $34.27 and a 1 year high of $46.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.87. The firm has a market cap of $889.36 million, a P/E ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 0.82.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The auto parts company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $511.68 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Standard Motor Products will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 5,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.75, for a total transaction of $231,424.50. Following the sale, the vice president owned 35,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,404,248.25. This represents a 14.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 76.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the 3rd quarter worth about $99,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Standard Motor Products in the 3rd quarter worth about $108,000. Institutional investors own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Standard Motor Products Company Profile

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.