Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning.

Standard Motor Products Trading Down 0.4 %

Standard Motor Products stock opened at $28.15 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.75 and a 200-day moving average of $31.76. Standard Motor Products has a one year low of $26.09 and a one year high of $35.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $611.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38 and a beta of 0.52.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The auto parts company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.10. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $343.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.50 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Standard Motor Products will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio is 100.81%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 4,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.11, for a total value of $161,340.30. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,582,192.35. This represents a 9.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Probity Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 10,671 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,603 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 45,660 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,388 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,900 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 36,364 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 11,508 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 270.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,293 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,496,000 after acquiring an additional 35,245 shares during the period. 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.