Vest Financial LLC Buys Shares of 20,379 Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Vest Financial LLC purchased a new position in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 20,379 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,931,000. Vest Financial LLC owned about 0.08% of Innospec as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Innospec by 13.9% during the 4th 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. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Innospec by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Innospec by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,868 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Innospec by 1.4% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Innospec by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Innospec Price Performance

NASDAQ:IOSP traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $88.15. 161,247 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 156,787. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $87.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.11 and a beta of 1.06. Innospec Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.32 and a 12-month high of $133.53.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $440.80 million for 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 business's 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 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Innospec declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Innospec Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Leslie J. Parrette sold 446 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.63, for a total value of $40,420.98. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at $498,193.11. This represents a 7.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.