Vest Financial LLC Invests $1.93 Million in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Vest Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 20,379 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,931,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Innospec by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 237,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,633 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Innospec by 357.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,039,000 after buying an additional 34,811 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Innospec by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 129,448 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $14,247,000 after acquiring an additional 4,376 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Innospec by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,554 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,033,000 after purchasing an additional 3,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Innospec by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 14,981 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,649,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Innospec

In other Innospec news, Director Leslie J. Parrette sold 446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.63, for a total transaction of $40,420.98. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $498,193.11. The trade was a 7.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on IOSP. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Innospec from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Innospec Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ IOSP opened at $86.13 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $88.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.54. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.65 and a beta of 1.06. Innospec Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.32 and a 52-week high of $133.53.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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%. Innospec’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Innospec announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from Innospec’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.79. Innospec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 155.56%.

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.