Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 81.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,835 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 110,534 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Innospec were worth $2,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IOSP. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Innospec by 503.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 779 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its stake in Innospec by 200.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Innospec in the second quarter valued at approximately $184,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Innospec in the third quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Innospec during the fourth quarter worth approximately $220,000. 96.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Innospec

In related news, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 1,035 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.92, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 10.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Innospec Stock Up 1.9 %

IOSP opened at $116.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 1.09. Innospec Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.65 and a 52 week high of $133.71. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.66.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.13 million. Innospec had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 7.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Innospec Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from Innospec’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.72. Innospec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut Innospec from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th.

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.