Royce & Associates LP Lowers Stake in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Royce & Associates LP reduced its stake in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP - Free Report) by 16.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 653,636 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 124,075 shares during the quarter. Innospec accounts for approximately 0.7% of Royce & Associates LP's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Royce & Associates LP owned 2.60% of Innospec worth $61,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tsfg LLC bought a new position in Innospec during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Innospec in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Covestor Ltd boosted 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 valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new position in shares of Innospec in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of Innospec by 167.0% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,976 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. 96.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Innospec news, Director Leslie J. Parrette sold 446 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 5,497 shares in the company, valued at $498,193.11. This trade represents a 7.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Innospec Stock Performance

IOSP traded down $1.16 on Monday, reaching $83.22. The company had a trading volume of 257,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,735. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.62. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.06 and a beta of 1.05. Innospec Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.32 and a 52-week high of $133.53.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.02. Innospec had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $440.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $466.50 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Innospec's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.79. This represents a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. 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.