8,297 Shares in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Acquired by Virtu Financial LLC

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 acquired a new position 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 acquired 8,297 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $786,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Innospec by 2.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,493 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $12,554,000 after purchasing an additional 3,045 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Innospec by 9.3% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 77,760 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $7,368,000 after buying an additional 6,602 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Innospec by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,554 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,033,000 after buying an additional 3,578 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Innospec by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 55,702 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $6,131,000 after buying an additional 3,696 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Innospec by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,983 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 8,286 shares in the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Innospec Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of IOSP stock traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $82.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 296,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 204,093. Innospec Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.10 and a 12-month high of $128.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 106.33 and a beta of 1.07. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $84.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.58.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.09. The company 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%. The company's revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Innospec from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Innospec from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th.

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.