Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Shares Bought by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Innospec were worth $4,779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Burney Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Innospec during the fourth quarter worth about $3,019,000. Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Innospec during the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Innospec by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,543 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Innospec by 24.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 266,688 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,160,000 after purchasing an additional 52,640 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Innospec by 8.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,282 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154 shares during the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Innospec from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Innospec

In other news, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 1,035 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.92, for a total transaction of $127,222.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,109,721.76. The trade was a 10.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Innospec Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Innospec stock opened at $114.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.98 and a beta of 1.09. Innospec Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.65 and a 52-week high of $133.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.69.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.35. The company had revenue of $443.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $442.13 million. Innospec had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 7.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Innospec Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.79 dividend. This is a boost from Innospec’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a yield of 1.3%. Innospec’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.57%.

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.