Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

Innospec Price Performance

Shares of Innospec stock opened at $103.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.82 and a beta of 1.09. Innospec has a 52-week low of $99.49 and a 52-week high of $133.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.25.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.05. Innospec had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 1.93%. The business had revenue of $466.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.43 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Innospec will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Innospec

In other Innospec news, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 652 shares of Innospec stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $67,351.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $865,240.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Philip John Boon sold 3,754 shares of Innospec stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $387,788.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,079 shares in the company, valued at $2,074,160.70. The trade was a 15.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,696 shares of company stock valued at $794,853. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Innospec

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IOSP. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Innospec by 503.9% in the 3rd 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. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Innospec in the fourth quarter valued at about $106,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Innospec by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 967 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Innospec by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.64% of the company’s stock.

Innospec Company 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.