Insider Selling: Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) VP Sells $231,424.50 in Stock

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) VP Ray Nicholas sold 5,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 35,327 shares in the company, valued at $1,404,248.25. This represents a 14.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total transaction of $74,646.00.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

Standard Motor Products stock opened at $39.10 on Friday. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.44 and a 12-month high of $46.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $870.37 million, a P/E ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. 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. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Standard Motor Products currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SMP. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 76.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 7,560.0% during 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 buying an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 235.5% during 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 buying an additional 1,613 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Standard Motor Products during the third quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Standard Motor Products during the third quarter valued at approximately $108,000. 81.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.