Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) Reaches New 12-Month Low Following Insider Selling

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $26.04 and last traded at $25.72, with a volume of 9884 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $26.16.

Specifically, EVP Dale Burks sold 11,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.20, for a total value of $299,336.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,546,592. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.23 and a 200-day moving average of $31.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $580.04 million, a P/E ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 2.25.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $343.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.50 million. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 2.56%. As a group, analysts predict that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is 100.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,655,886 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $51,299,000 after buying an additional 69,000 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,295,997 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $43,027,000 after purchasing an additional 73,476 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 929,813 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $28,806,000 after purchasing an additional 19,180 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 783,593 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $26,015,000 after purchasing an additional 19,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 717,457 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $22,227,000 after purchasing an additional 32,197 shares in the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Standard Motor Products

Standard Motor Products, Inc manufactures and distributes replacement automotive parts in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Vehicle Control, Temperature Control, and Engineered Solutions segments. The company provides components for the ignition, emissions, and fuel delivery systems, such as air injection and induction components, air management valves, regulators and solenoids, exhaust gas recirculation components, fuel injectors and related components, fuel valves, ignition coils, connectors and sockets, modules, pumps, relays and fuses, starting and charging system parts, and vapor and purge components.