Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Reduces Stock Position in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lessened its stake in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 97,941 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,734 shares during the quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned about 0.39% of Innospec worth $9,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Innospec by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,106,482 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $104,839,000 after purchasing an additional 184,262 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in Innospec by 436.8% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 70,039 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,636,000 after buying an additional 56,991 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Innospec in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,212,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Innospec by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,671,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Innospec by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,493 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,554,000 after purchasing an additional 3,045 shares in the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Innospec Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of IOSP opened at $85.01 on Friday. Innospec Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.32 and a 52-week high of $133.53. The company has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 78.71 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $86.49 and a 200 day moving average of $95.79.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.02. Innospec had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 1.51%. The company had revenue of $440.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $466.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were issued a $0.84 dividend. This is a positive change from Innospec’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.79. This represents a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. Innospec’s payout ratio is currently 155.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Innospec from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Insider Activity at Innospec

In related news, Director Leslie J. Parrette sold 446 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.63, for a total transaction of $40,420.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $498,193.11. This trade represents a 7.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.31% of the company’s stock.

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.