Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $14.25 Million Stake in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,448 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 4,376 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Innospec were worth $14,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Innospec by 503.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 779 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Innospec by 82.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Innospec in the third quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Innospec in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in Innospec by 7.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Innospec Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IOSP opened at $103.57 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.94 and a beta of 1.09. Innospec Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.49 and a 1 year high of $133.71.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Innospec news, SVP Corbin Barnes sold 598 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.06, for a total transaction of $61,629.88. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $829,736.06. The trade was a 6.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,696 shares of company stock valued at $794,853. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

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.