Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) EVP Sells $350,364.21 in Stock

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) EVP Dale Burks sold 9,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.71, for a total value of $350,364.21. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 56,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,204,728.05. This trade represents a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Dale Burks also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 19th, Dale Burks sold 5,798 shares of Standard Motor Products stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total value of $226,122.00.
• On Tuesday, August 18th, Dale Burks sold 3,500 shares of Standard Motor Products stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.76, for a total transaction of $135,660.00.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

Standard Motor Products stock opened at $38.17 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average price of $38.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.82. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.27 and a 12-month high of $46.00. The stock has a market cap of $852.72 million, a P/E ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 0.82.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The auto parts company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $526.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $511.68 million. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 13.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.93%.

Institutional Trading of Standard Motor Products

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Standard Motor Products during the second quarter worth $158,258,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products in the second quarter valued at $10,882,000. Congruence Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products in the 4th quarter valued at $6,571,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 207.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 259,180 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $9,004,000 after buying an additional 174,986 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Standard Motor Products by 368.2% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 221,147 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $6,794,000 after acquiring an additional 173,912 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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 upgraded Standard Motor Products from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

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.