Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) Trading Down 9.5% – Should You Sell?

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)’s stock price was down 9.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $39.14 and last traded at $38.9950. Approximately 72,923 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 121,993 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on SMP shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 1st. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Standard Motor Products in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Standard Motor Products in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.96. The company has a market cap of $851.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.43.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 1.79%.The business had revenue of $385.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.91 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from Standard Motor Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is currently 94.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Standard Motor Products news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 9,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total transaction of $345,624.93. Following the sale, the vice president owned 40,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,543,548.09. The trade was a 18.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SMP. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Standard Motor Products by 83.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 296,792 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $10,937,000 after purchasing an additional 134,936 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $221,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,636 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 1,642 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Standard Motor Products by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 125,968 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,642,000 after buying an additional 2,002 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 62.4% during the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 10,931 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 4,202 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

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.