Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Standard Motor Products Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of SMP stock opened at $36.73 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Standard Motor Products has a 1 year low of $22.75 and a 1 year high of $46.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $813.57 million, a P/E ratio of 19.85 and a beta of 0.80.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The company had revenue of $385.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $385.91 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Standard Motor Products will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from Standard Motor Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Standard Motor Products’s payout ratio is presently 71.35%.

Institutional Trading of Standard Motor Products

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Delphi Management Inc. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 506.3% during the 4th quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 34,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,277,000 after buying an additional 28,944 shares during the period. Teton Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,327,000. Tredje AP fonden bought a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter worth about $925,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,120,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 405.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,990 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,081,000 after buying an additional 40,898 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.26% of the company’s stock.

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.