Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Acquires 15,925 Shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its holdings in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 100,675 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,925 shares during the quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned approximately 0.40% of Innospec worth $11,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Innospec by 54.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Innospec by 82.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Innospec by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Innospec by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,868 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Innospec in the third quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Innospec

In related news, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $67,351.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,376 shares in the company, valued at $865,240.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Philip John Boon sold 3,754 shares of Innospec stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $387,788.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,079 shares in the company, valued at $2,074,160.70. The trade was a 15.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,696 shares of company stock worth $794,853. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Innospec Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IOSP opened at $97.36 on Wednesday. Innospec Inc. has a 1-year low of $95.17 and a 1-year high of $133.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.56 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $106.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.75.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.05. Innospec had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 12.27%. The business had revenue of $466.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.43 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Innospec declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Innospec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday.

Innospec 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.