Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.29

Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 3rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of 0.29 per share by the auto parts company on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th.

Standard Motor Products has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.1% annually over the last three years. Standard Motor Products has a payout ratio of 31.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Standard Motor Products to earn $3.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.8%.

Standard Motor Products Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SMP traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $30.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 88,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 85,133. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $31.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.85. Standard Motor Products has a 52 week low of $26.09 and a 52 week high of $41.41. The company has a market capitalization of $666.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Standard Motor Products

In other news, insider Carmine Joseph Broccole sold 913 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total transaction of $31,918.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 81,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,840,185.36. The trade was a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Eric Sills sold 1,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.97, for a total transaction of $60,183.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 175,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,142,515.47. This trade represents a 0.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,184 shares of company stock worth $387,041 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Standard Motor Products from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

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.