Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP Shares Sold by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its stake in Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) by 95.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,338 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 49,639 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada's holdings in Standard Motor Products were worth $81,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SMP. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in Standard Motor Products by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,142 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 32,443 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $1,196,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 6,946 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 76.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 11,679 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SMP shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Standard Motor Products from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research downgraded Standard Motor Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Standard Motor Products from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Standard Motor Products news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 5,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.75, for a total transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dale Burks sold 5,798 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total value of $226,122.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,858,623. This trade represents a 10.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,171 shares of company stock worth $943,571. 5.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

NYSE:SMP opened at $37.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $38.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.48. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.27 and a twelve month high of $46.00. The company has a market capitalization of $842.89 million, a P/E ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.82.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The auto parts company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $526.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $511.68 million. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 13.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Standard Motor Products's payout ratio is currently 58.93%.

Standard Motor Products 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.

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