Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Standard Motor Products, Inc. reported a significant decrease in short interest, with a drop of 19.5% from 714,200 shares to 574,800 shares as of August 31st, representing approximately 2.8% of the company's total stock.
• Institutional investors now own 81.26% of Standard Motor Products, with notable increases in stakes from firms like Nisa Investment Advisors LLC and Legal & General Group Plc.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, yielding an annualized dividend of $1.24, corresponding to a yield of 3.1%.

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 574,800 shares, a drop of 19.5% from the August 15th total of 714,200 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 180,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 180,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 1.6% during the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 29,228 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,900 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 1.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 54,801 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 4,842.1% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 939 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Standard Motor Products by 7.4% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 13,854 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the period. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Standard Motor Products from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

SMP stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $40.53. The stock had a trading volume of 157,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 142,655. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.82. Standard Motor Products has a 52-week low of $21.38 and a 52-week high of $41.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market cap of $891.25 million, a PE ratio of 23.03 and a beta of 0.66.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The auto parts company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.32. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 2.39%.The business had revenue of $493.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $450.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Standard Motor Products's payout ratio is currently 70.45%.

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.

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