Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) Stock: Insider Eric Sills Sells 2,835 Shares

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) CEO Eric Sills sold 2,835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $125,307.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 184,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,134,612.20. The trade was a 1.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Standard Motor Products Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE SMP traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $44.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 98,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 161,384. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $984.75 million, a PE ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.80. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.27 and a 1-year high of $47.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $39.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.86.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The auto parts company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $512.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $514.99 million. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 3.77% and a return on equity of 13.65%. On average, research analysts forecast that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 4.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 24.6% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,195 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 4.2% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 11,679 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 10.7% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,182 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $192,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 89.1% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,159 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Standard Motor Products in a report on Monday, October 26th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of Standard Motor Products in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Standard Motor Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Standard Motor Products currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

About Standard Motor Products

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE: SMP) designs, manufactures and distributes replacement parts for the automotive aftermarket, along with components for original equipment manufacturers. Founded in 1919, the company has a long history in the vehicle-parts industry. Its products include ignition, fuel, emissions, engine-management and temperature-control parts, as well as switches, sensors and related electrical components. The company sells products under brands including Standard and Blue Streak.