Invesco Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 452,159 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 36,833 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.81% of Innospec worth $49,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Innospec during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,457,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Innospec in the 4th quarter valued at about $20,992,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Innospec in the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,312,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Innospec by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 266,688 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,160,000 after purchasing an additional 52,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Innospec by 357.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,039,000 after buying an additional 34,811 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Insider Transactions at Innospec

In other Innospec news, VP Philip John Boon sold 3,754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,074,160.70. The trade was a 15.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $67,351.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $865,240.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,696 shares of company stock worth $794,853 over the last ninety days. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Innospec Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of IOSP opened at $87.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 61.43 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.33. Innospec Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.32 and a 12-month high of $133.71.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 1.93%. The company had revenue of $466.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.43 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Innospec announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.