First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Stock Position in Innospec Inc. $IOSP

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 20.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 640,562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 161,942 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Innospec were worth $49,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of IOSP. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Innospec by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,917 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its position in Innospec by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 801 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Innospec by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 23,062 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,939,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Innospec by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,170 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Innospec by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,798 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.64% of the company’s stock.

Innospec Stock Performance

Shares of Innospec stock opened at $69.74 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.62. Innospec Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.23 and a fifty-two week high of $102.25. The company has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.90.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.24. Innospec had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 6.56%.The firm had revenue of $455.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $460.87 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IOSP has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Innospec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. Zacks Research downgraded Innospec from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Innospec from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP David B. Jones sold 1,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.64, for a total transaction of $77,757.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,111,378.52. This represents a 6.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Landless sold 594 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.56, for a total value of $45,476.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,632 shares in the company, valued at $584,305.92. This trade represents a 7.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 4,989 shares of company stock valued at $391,889 in the last three months. 1.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Innospec

Innospec Incorporated (NASDAQ: IOSP) is a global specialty chemicals company headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. The company operates through three principal business segments: Fuel Specialties, Oilfield Services, and Performance Chemicals. In the Fuel Specialties segment, Innospec develops and supplies additives designed to enhance octane levels, improve combustion efficiency, reduce emissions and prevent deposit formation in gasoline and diesel engines. Its Oilfield Services division provides chemical technologies—such as surfactants, corrosion inhibitors and demulsifiers—to support exploration, drilling, production optimization and enhanced oil recovery operations.