Virtu Financial LLC Makes New $786,000 Investment in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC purchased 8,297 shares of Innospec Inc. for approximately $786,000, indicating growing institutional interest in the specialty chemicals company.
• Several hedge funds, including Charles Schwab Investment Management and Vanguard Group, have increased their positions in Innospec, with institutional investors owning 96.64% of the stock.
• Innospec reported earnings of $1.26 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, despite a slight decline in revenue compared to the previous year.

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,297 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $786,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Innospec by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 354,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $33,608,000 after buying an additional 2,129 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Innospec by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,210,768 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $304,220,000 after purchasing an additional 30,031 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Innospec by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 382,410 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $36,233,000 after purchasing an additional 84,314 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Innospec during the 1st quarter worth about $262,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Innospec by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,082 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on IOSP. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Innospec from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note 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 traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $82.94. 296,151 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 204,093. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.33 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $84.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.42. Innospec Inc. has a 52 week low of $74.10 and a 52 week high of $128.35.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $439.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $440.70 million. Innospec had a net margin of 1.08% and a return on equity of 10.89%. Innospec's revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. Analysts expect that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

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.