Standard Motor Products’ (SMP) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Roth Capital

Roth Capital reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. Roth Capital currently has a $54.00 price target on the auto parts company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Standard Motor Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Standard Motor Products from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Standard Motor Products Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE SMP opened at $36.25 on Monday. Standard Motor Products has a 1-year low of $34.27 and a 1-year high of $46.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $38.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $809.83 million, a P/E ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 0.85.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The auto parts company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $526.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Standard Motor Products will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dale Burks sold 5,798 shares of Standard Motor Products 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,623. This trade represents a 10.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 18,349 shares of company stock valued at $712,146 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC bought a new position in Standard Motor Products in the third quarter worth approximately $448,000. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 89.1% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,159 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Standard Motor Products during the 2nd quarter valued at $686,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in Standard Motor Products during the 2nd quarter valued at $635,000. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Standard Motor Products Company Profile

Standard Motor Products, Inc (NYSE:SMP) manufactures and distributes replacement parts for the automotive aftermarket. The company supplies components used to maintain and repair passenger vehicles, light trucks, and other vehicles, serving professional repair shops, parts distributors, and do-it-yourself customers.

Its product portfolio includes engine-management components such as ignition, fuel, emissions, and sensor products, as well as temperature-control parts, including air-conditioning and cooling-system components.