Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,234 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 236 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Innospec were worth $875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of IOSP. Vest Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Innospec during the first quarter worth $1,931,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Innospec by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 77,760 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,368,000 after purchasing an additional 6,602 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Innospec by 7,113.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 33,542 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,780,000 after purchasing an additional 33,077 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Innospec during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,931,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Innospec by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 89,018 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,797,000 after buying an additional 12,825 shares in the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Innospec Stock Performance

Shares of IOSP stock opened at $82.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 76.69 and a beta of 1.06. Innospec Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.32 and a 52-week high of $133.53. The business’s fifty day moving average is $87.73 and its 200 day moving average is $99.60.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.42 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $440.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $466.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This is a positive change from Innospec’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.79. This represents a yield of 1.7%. Innospec’s payout ratio is presently 155.56%.

Innospec announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Innospec news, Director Leslie J. Parrette sold 446 shares of Innospec stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 5,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $498,193.11. The trade was a 7.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.31% of the company’s stock.

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.