Wall Street Zen Upgrades Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Standard Motor Products to “Buy” from “Hold”, while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $49.00.
• Standard Motor Products exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.40 versus $1.39 expected and revenue of $526.72 million compared with the $511.68 million consensus estimate.
• The stock opened at $38.81, near its 50- and 200-day moving averages, with institutional investors owning 81.26% of shares; an executive recently sold 5,822 shares.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on SMP. Weiss Ratings upgraded Standard Motor Products from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research cut Standard Motor Products from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two investment 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 company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.00.

Standard Motor Products Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:SMP opened at $38.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $866.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 0.82. Standard Motor Products has a one year low of $34.27 and a one year high of $46.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.87.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The auto parts company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $526.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $511.68 million. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 2.78%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Standard Motor Products will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Standard Motor Products

In other news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 5,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 35,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,404,248.25. This represents a 14.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SMP. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 32,443 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,196,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 6,946 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Standard Motor Products by 76.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 949 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 11,679 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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