Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

Innospec Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IOSP opened at $104.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.25 and a beta of 1.09. Innospec has a 12 month low of $99.49 and a 12 month high of $133.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $110.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.31.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.05. Innospec had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 1.93%. The company had revenue of $466.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.43 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Innospec will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Philip John Boon sold 3,754 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 transaction of $387,788.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,074,160.70. This represents a 15.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Corbin Barnes sold 598 shares of Innospec stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.06, for a total transaction of $61,629.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,736.06. This trade represents a 6.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,696 shares of company stock worth $794,853. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Innospec

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in Innospec by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,805,546 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $204,189,000 after purchasing an additional 11,231 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Innospec by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 996,281 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $112,669,000 after buying an additional 20,744 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Innospec by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 922,220 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $101,500,000 after buying an additional 14,188 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Innospec by 9.3% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 835,333 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $94,468,000 after acquiring an additional 70,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Innospec by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 692,071 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $76,184,000 after acquiring an additional 14,788 shares during the period. 96.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.