Jane Street Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Jane Street Group LLC decreased its position in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP - Free Report) by 61.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,767 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 9,136 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC's holdings in Innospec were worth $635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Innospec in the 4th quarter worth $106,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Innospec by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 967 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Innospec by 82.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Innospec by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Innospec by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Innospec

In other Innospec news, Director Leslie J. Parrette sold 446 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.63, for a total transaction of $40,420.98. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Innospec Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of IOSP traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $85.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 171,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 154,520. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.09 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.67. Innospec Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.32 and a 1-year high of $133.53.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $440.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $466.50 million. Innospec had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 1.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Innospec announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a $0.84 dividend. This is a boost from Innospec's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a yield of 1.7%. Innospec's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 155.56%.

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.