State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Boosts Position in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,409 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 2,625 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.07% of Innospec worth $1,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Innospec in the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Innospec by 239.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 635 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Innospec by 503.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 779 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its stake in Innospec by 200.0% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Innospec during the first quarter worth $147,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ian Cleminson sold 3,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.74, for a total value of $389,886.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,996 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,491,161.04. The trade was a 20.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 1,035 shares of Innospec stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.92, for a total value of $127,222.20. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,035 shares of company stock valued at $1,267,096 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Innospec from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

Innospec Stock Performance

IOSP stock opened at $119.03 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77 and a beta of 1.08. Innospec Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.97 and a 1 year high of $133.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $112.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.82.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last posted its 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 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Innospec Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. 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 is Monday, November 18th. Innospec’s payout ratio is presently 26.53%.

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.