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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

Shares of NYSE:SMP opened at $39.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.82 and a 200-day moving average of $38.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $876.82 million, a PE ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 0.81. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.44 and a 12 month high of $46.00.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $451.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $429.07 million. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 12.98%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in Standard Motor Products by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,142 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Standard Motor Products by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 32,443 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Standard Motor Products by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 6,946 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 11,679 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Standard Motor Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

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.