Legato Capital Management LLC Purchases 9,380 Shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP)

Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE:SMP - Free Report) by 28.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,534 shares of the auto parts company's stock after buying an additional 9,380 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Standard Motor Products worth $1,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products during the 1st quarter valued at $227,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products in the 1st quarter valued at about $225,000. Bailard Inc. bought a new position in shares of Standard Motor Products in the 1st quarter valued at about $332,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Standard Motor Products by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 111,541 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $2,781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new position in Standard Motor Products during the 1st quarter valued at about $823,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.26% of the company's stock.

Standard Motor Products Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:SMP traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.63. 125,369 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 167,233. The stock has a market capitalization of $717.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.31 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Standard Motor Products, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.38 and a 52 week high of $35.92. The firm's 50 day moving average is $31.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.93.

Standard Motor Products (NYSE:SMP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.37. Standard Motor Products had a net margin of 2.02% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The firm had revenue of $413.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $394.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The company's revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Standard Motor Products, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Standard Motor Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This is a boost from Standard Motor Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Standard Motor Products's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.57%.

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.