Short Interest in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Drops By 16.5%

Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 383,000 shares, a drop of 16.5% from the March 15th total of 458,800 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 217,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Innospec

In related news, VP Philip John Boon sold 3,754 shares of Innospec stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $387,788.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,074,160.70. This trade represents a 15.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Corbin Barnes sold 598 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.06, for a total value of $61,629.88. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $829,736.06. The trade was a 6.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,696 shares of company stock valued at $794,853 in the last ninety days. 1.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Innospec

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Innospec in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,457,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Innospec during the 4th quarter valued at $20,992,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Innospec during the fourth quarter worth $11,312,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Innospec by 24.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 266,688 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,160,000 after purchasing an additional 52,640 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Innospec by 357.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,039,000 after purchasing an additional 34,811 shares during the period. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Innospec Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IOSP opened at $85.76 on Monday. Innospec has a 52-week low of $80.32 and a 52-week high of $133.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 60.40 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $96.69 and a 200-day moving average of $107.76.

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

Innospec declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

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.