Wasatch Advisors LP Purchases 11,231 Shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 0.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,805,546 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,231 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned approximately 0.07% of Innospec worth $204,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Innospec by 1.6% during the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,819 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $843,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Innospec by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 6,962 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $860,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in Innospec by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 21,891 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,706,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Innospec by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Innospec by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,421 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.64% of the company’s stock.

Innospec Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IOSP opened at $118.61 on Friday. Innospec Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.97 and a 52 week high of $133.71. The company’s fifty day moving average is $114.50 and its 200-day moving average is $118.40. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70 and a beta of 1.08.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $443.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.13 million. Innospec had a net margin of 7.68% and a return on equity of 13.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Innospec Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is an increase from Innospec’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a yield of 1.3%. Innospec’s dividend payout ratio is 27.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Innospec news, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 1,035 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.92, for a total transaction of $127,222.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,109,721.76. This represents a 10.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Innospec from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th.

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.