Innospec Inc. (IOSP) to Issue Semi-annual Dividend of $0.84 on May 30th

Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) announced a semi-annual dividend on Friday, May 9th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.84 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Friday, May 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This is a 6.3% increase from Innospec’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.79.

Innospec has raised its dividend payment by an average of 9.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 10 years. Innospec has a payout ratio of 23.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Innospec to earn $6.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.58 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.7%.

Innospec Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of Innospec stock opened at $90.47 on Friday. Innospec has a 52 week low of $80.32 and a 52 week high of $133.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $92.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.71 and a beta of 1.11.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.02. Innospec had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 12.27%. The firm had revenue of $440.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.50 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. Innospec’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Innospec will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Innospec

In other Innospec news, SVP Corbin Barnes sold 598 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.06, for a total value of $61,629.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $829,736.06. The trade was a 6.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $67,351.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $865,240.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,696 shares of company stock worth $794,853. Company insiders own 1.31% of the company’s stock.

Innospec announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on IOSP shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised Innospec from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Innospec Company Profile

Innospec Inc develops, manufactures, blends, markets, and supplies specialty chemicals in the United States, rest of North America, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, and internationally. The company's Fuel Specialties segment offers a range of specialty chemical products that are used as additives in additives in diesel, jet, marine, fuel oil and other fuels.