Short Interest in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Drops By 12.3%

Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 226,400 shares, a drop of 12.3% from the October 15th total of 258,100 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 117,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Insider Activity at Innospec

In other news, CFO Ian Cleminson sold 3,398 shares of Innospec stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.74, for a total transaction of $389,886.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,996 shares in the company, valued at $1,491,161.04. The trade was a 20.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 1,035 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.92, for a total value of $127,222.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,028 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,721.76. This represents a 10.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,035 shares of company stock valued at $1,267,096. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Innospec during the 1st quarter worth $66,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Innospec by 239.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 635 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Innospec by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Innospec during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $147,000. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Innospec Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IOSP traded down $2.35 on Monday, reaching $116.68. The company had a trading volume of 85,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 108,900. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $112.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.82. Innospec has a twelve month low of $103.97 and a twelve month high of $133.71.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.35. The firm had revenue of $443.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.13 million. Innospec had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 7.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Innospec will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Innospec’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Innospec’s payout ratio is presently 26.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Innospec from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

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.