Vestcor Inc Acquires New Position in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,141 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Innospec by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 49,103 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,404,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Innospec by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,494 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Innospec by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Innospec by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,301,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in shares of Innospec by 4,063.2% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 12,656 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after buying an additional 12,352 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th.

Insider Transactions at Innospec

In other Innospec news, VP Philip John Boon sold 3,754 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 15.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the director now owns 8,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $865,240.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,696 shares of company stock worth $794,853. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Innospec Stock Performance

Shares of IOSP stock opened at $98.70 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $107.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.19. Innospec Inc. has a one year low of $96.39 and a one year high of $133.71. The firm has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.51 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Innospec announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.