Rhumbline Advisers Purchases 6,602 Shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP - Free Report) by 9.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 77,760 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,602 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.31% of Innospec worth $7,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Innospec by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 14,981 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,649,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in shares of Innospec by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 17,989 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,980,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Innospec by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 129,448 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $14,247,000 after buying an additional 4,376 shares during the period. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Innospec by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,923 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $542,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Innospec by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 237,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $26,152,000 after buying an additional 2,633 shares during the period. 96.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on IOSP. Seaport Res Ptn raised Innospec from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Innospec from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th.

Insider Transactions at Innospec

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 transaction, the director now directly owns 5,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $498,193.11. The trade was a 7.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Innospec Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:IOSP traded down $2.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $84.77. The company had a trading volume of 204,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 157,757. Innospec Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.32 and a 12 month high of $133.53. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.70 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.45.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.02. Innospec had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 1.93%. The business had revenue of $440.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.50 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.75 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Innospec Increases Dividend

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

Innospec announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.