Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) Short Interest Down 26.6% in February

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 524,300 shares, a drop of 26.6% from the February 13th total of 714,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 125,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.2 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Standard Motor Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMP traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $26.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 168,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 132,900. The company has a market cap of $580.04 million, a P/E ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 0.50. Standard Motor Products has a 12-month low of $25.68 and a 12-month high of $35.92. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 2.25.

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

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given 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 yield of 4.37%. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is 100.81%.

Insider Activity

In other Standard Motor Products news, EVP Dale Burks sold 11,005 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.20, for a total transaction of $299,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,546,592. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Standard Motor Products

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMP. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 485,299 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $16,115,000 after acquiring an additional 27,210 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Standard Motor Products during the fourth quarter worth about $753,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Standard Motor Products by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 783,593 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $26,015,000 after purchasing an additional 19,652 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Standard Motor Products in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,876,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 274.6% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 37,119 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after buying an additional 27,210 shares during the period. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.