Swiss National Bank Boosts Holdings in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 49,103 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Innospec were worth $5,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Innospec in the third quarter valued at $254,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Innospec by 98.1% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 3,219 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Innospec by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 336,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,057,000 after purchasing an additional 11,479 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in Innospec by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Innospec by 46.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 32,193 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,641,000 after buying an additional 10,162 shares during the period. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Innospec Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ IOSP opened at $98.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $106.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.81. Innospec Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.17 and a 12-month high of $133.71. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.21 and a beta of 1.08.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $466.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.43 million. Innospec had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 1.93%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $67,351.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $865,240.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Philip John Boon sold 3,754 shares of Innospec 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,074,160.70. This trade represents a 15.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,696 shares of company stock worth $794,853 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Innospec Profile

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.