Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) Short Interest Up 21.0% in July

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 471,500 shares, an increase of 21.0% from the June 30th total of 389,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 167,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Standard Motor Products in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Standard Motor Products

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SMP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,343,609 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $45,172,000 after purchasing an additional 12,166 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,758 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products during the fourth quarter worth approximately $218,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 3,928.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 4,557 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Standard Motor Products during the fourth quarter worth $398,000. 81.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Standard Motor Products Trading Up 1.3 %

SMP traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 138,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 147,703. Standard Motor Products has a twelve month low of $26.09 and a twelve month high of $41.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $29.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $708.06 million, a P/E ratio of 23.35 and a beta of 0.52.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The auto parts company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. Standard Motor Products had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 2.28%. The firm had revenue of $331.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.45%.

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.