Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 2,154 Shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 8.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,282 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,154 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Innospec were worth $3,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of IOSP. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Innospec by 503.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 779 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Innospec by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Innospec in the second quarter worth $184,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Innospec in the third quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Innospec during the second quarter worth about $233,000. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 1,035 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 9,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,109,721.76. This trade represents a 10.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Innospec from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Innospec Price Performance

NASDAQ IOSP opened at $111.32 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $115.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43 and a beta of 1.09. Innospec Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.97 and a fifty-two week high of $133.71.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.35. Innospec had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 7.68%. The business had revenue of $443.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. Innospec’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Innospec Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Innospec Increases Dividend

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

Innospec 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.