Legato Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Standard Motor Products, Inc. $SMP

Legato Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 80.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,139 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 26,037 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Standard Motor Products were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Standard Motor Products by 235.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,298 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter valued at $99,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter valued at $108,000. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Cambria Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 3rd quarter valued at $213,000. 81.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Standard Motor Products Stock Performance

Shares of SMP stock opened at $40.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $902.31 million, a P/E ratio of 19.87 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.26 and its 200 day moving average is $38.49. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.85 and a 12 month high of $46.00.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $451.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $429.07 million. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 12.98%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SMP. Wall Street Zen lowered Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Standard Motor Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Standard Motor Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Standard Motor Products presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

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.