Short Interest in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) Drops By 14.3%

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) saw a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 735,203 shares, a decrease of 14.3% from the February 12th total of 858,184 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 154,715 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 154,715 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SMP. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,142 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 32,443 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,196,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Standard Motor Products by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 6,946 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Standard Motor Products by 2.1% in the third quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 24,300 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $992,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,446 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Standard Motor Products Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE SMP opened at $36.42 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $806.59 million, a PE ratio of 19.68 and a beta of 0.75. Standard Motor Products has a 12 month low of $21.38 and a 12 month high of $46.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $385.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.91 million. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 2.31%. Research analysts forecast that Standard Motor Products will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 16th were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This is a boost from Standard Motor Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is currently 71.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SMP shares. 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Standard Motor Products in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.