Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP Shares Sold by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reduced its position in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 95.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 49,639 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Standard Motor Products were worth $81,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 7,560.0% in the fourth 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 period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of 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 during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Standard Motor Products in the third quarter valued at $99,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Standard Motor Products in the third quarter valued at $108,000. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Standard Motor Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Standard Motor Products from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered 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 given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

Insider Activity at Standard Motor Products

In other Standard Motor Products news, 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 35,327 shares in the company, valued at $1,404,248.25. The trade was a 14.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dale Burks sold 5,798 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total transaction of $226,122.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,623. The trade was a 10.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,171 shares of company stock valued at $943,571. 5.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

SMP stock opened at $37.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.48. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.27 and a 12-month high of $46.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $842.89 million, a PE ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.82.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The auto parts company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $526.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $511.68 million. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 2.78%.During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, 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 was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is 58.93%.

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.