State Street Corp Acquires 20,744 Shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 996,281 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,744 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned approximately 3.99% of Innospec worth $112,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Innospec by 323.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 4,194 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Innospec by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 336,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,057,000 after buying an additional 11,479 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Innospec by 2,699.6% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 13,802 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 13,309 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Innospec by 58.9% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 17,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Innospec by 46.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 32,193 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,641,000 after acquiring an additional 10,162 shares in the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Innospec Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IOSP opened at $115.86 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $115.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 1.09. Innospec Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.97 and a 1 year high of $133.71.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35. The business had revenue of $443.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.13 million. Innospec had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 7.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.59 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Innospec Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.79 dividend. This is a positive change from Innospec’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.72. This represents a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Innospec’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Innospec

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

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.