Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Shares Purchased by Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN

Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN boosted its stake in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 1.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 79,066 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,370 shares during the quarter. Innospec comprises about 1.7% of Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN’s holdings in Innospec were worth $7,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IOSP. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Innospec in the fourth quarter valued at $20,992,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Innospec in the fourth quarter valued at $11,312,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Innospec by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 312,880 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,436,000 after acquiring an additional 46,192 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Innospec by 7,113.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 33,542 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,780,000 after acquiring an additional 33,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Innospec in the fourth quarter valued at $2,931,000. 96.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IOSP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Innospec from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Leslie J. Parrette sold 446 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.63, for a total transaction of $40,420.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $498,193.11. This represents a 7.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.31% of the company’s stock.

Innospec Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IOSP opened at $83.64 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.85. Innospec Inc. has a one year low of $80.32 and a one year high of $133.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.44 and a beta of 1.06.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.02. Innospec had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $440.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $466.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Innospec Increases Dividend

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

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

About Innospec

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.