UBS Group AG Trims Stake in Innospec Inc. $IOSP

UBS Group AG trimmed its holdings in shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 142,055 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 22,992 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Innospec were worth $10,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Innospec by 1,159.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 529 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Innospec by 378.1% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 545 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Innospec by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 588 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Innospec in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in shares of Innospec by 27.5% in 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 in the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on IOSP. Zacks Research upgraded Innospec from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings cut Innospec from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Innospec Trading Down 2.3%

NASDAQ IOSP opened at $78.15 on Friday. Innospec Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.51 and a 1-year high of $92.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.99 and a 200-day moving average of $76.77. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 17.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.03. Innospec had a return on equity of 9.32% and a net margin of 6.38%.The company had revenue of $453.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $432.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. Innospec’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Innospec Inc. will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Innospec Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be paid a $0.92 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 240.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. Innospec’s payout ratio is 37.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Innospec news, Director David Landless sold 594 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.56, for a total transaction of $45,476.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,305.92. This represents a 7.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP David B. Jones sold 1,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.64, for a total value of $77,757.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,111,378.52. The trade was a 6.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,989 shares of company stock worth $391,889. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

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.