Voloridge Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 26.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,460 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 15,244 shares during the quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Innospec worth $4,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Innospec by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 967 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Innospec by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Innospec by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,868 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Innospec by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 14,981 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,649,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Innospec by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $738,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Innospec Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IOSP opened at $85.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 60.27 and a beta of 1.11. Innospec Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.32 and a 12 month high of $133.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.55.

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

Innospec announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. This is a boost from Innospec’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.79. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. Innospec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 155.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Leslie J. Parrette sold 446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.63, for a total value of $40,420.98. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $498,193.11. This trade represents a 7.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IOSP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Innospec from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a 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.