Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 3,632 Shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Legato Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,154 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 3,632 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC owned 0.15% of Standard Motor Products worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SMP. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products in the third quarter valued at $3,876,000. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 6.0% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,295,997 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $43,027,000 after purchasing an additional 73,476 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 359.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 48,522 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,609,000 after purchasing an additional 37,971 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 47.1% in the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 99,345 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 31,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Standard Motor Products by 274.6% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 37,119 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 27,210 shares during the last quarter. 81.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Standard Motor Products Trading Up 1.6 %

SMP stock opened at $31.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 2.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.82. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.09 and a 52 week high of $41.17. The company has a market capitalization of $674.36 million, a PE ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 0.52.

Standard Motor Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Standard Motor Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.61%.

Insider Activity at Standard Motor Products

In other Standard Motor Products news, VP Ray Nicholas sold 4,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.11, for a total transaction of $161,340.30. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,385 shares in the company, valued at $1,582,192.35. This represents a 9.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Standard Motor Products Profile

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.