Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) saw a significant drop in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 389,700 shares, a drop of 38.5% from the June 15th total of 633,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 158,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SMP. StockNews.com raised shares of Standard Motor Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 29th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Standard Motor Products in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

Shares of SMP traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.14. 171,573 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 145,834. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Standard Motor Products has a 52-week low of $26.09 and a 52-week high of $41.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.68. The company has a market cap of $635.83 million, a P/E ratio of 20.93 and a beta of 0.52.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The auto parts company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The company had revenue of $331.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $321.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. Standard Motor Products’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is currently 83.45%.

Institutional Trading of Standard Motor Products

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SMP. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 6,499 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,807 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,758 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 26,313 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,048,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,396 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

Standard Motor Products Company Profile

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.