Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) Shares Up 9.7% – What’s Next?

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)’s share price shot up 9.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $40.63 and last traded at $41.84. 30,002 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 123,295 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SMP. Zacks Research downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

Standard Motor Products Stock Up 5.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $895.76 million, a PE ratio of 19.69 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 2.23.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.09. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 2.51%.The business had revenue of $451.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $429.07 million. Analysts forecast that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 76.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 7,560.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,149 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 235.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,298 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter worth $99,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter worth $108,000. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Standard Motor Products Company Profile

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.