Short Interest in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Rises By 7.5%

Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 299,800 shares, a growth of 7.5% from the November 30th total of 278,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 113,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Innospec Price Performance

Shares of Innospec stock opened at $110.06 on Wednesday. Innospec has a 1 year low of $103.97 and a 1 year high of $133.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $115.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.21 and a beta of 1.09.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35. The company had revenue of $443.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $442.13 million. Innospec had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 7.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Innospec will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a boost from Innospec’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.72. This represents a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Innospec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value 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. This trade represents a 10.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Innospec

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Innospec by 323.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 4,194 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Innospec by 3.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 336,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,057,000 after purchasing an additional 11,479 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Innospec by 2,699.6% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 13,802 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after purchasing an additional 13,309 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Innospec by 5.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,103 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Innospec by 58.9% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 17,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,101,000 after buying an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.64% 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.