Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) Share Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $38.78 and traded as high as $38.80. Standard Motor Products shares last traded at $38.3170, with a volume of 125,069 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMP has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings cut Standard Motor Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. One equities research 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $852.94 million, a P/E ratio of 18.78 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $451.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $429.07 million. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 2.51%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 4.4 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, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is currently 64.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 5,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.75, for a total value of $231,424.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 35,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,404,248.25. This trade represents a 14.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,386,382 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $51,089,000 after acquiring an additional 4,927 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,101,199 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $40,579,000 after acquiring an additional 36,688 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 1.7% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 996,928 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $34,633,000 after acquiring an additional 16,664 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 826,471 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $30,455,000 after acquiring an additional 5,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 503,039 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $18,539,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.