ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $4.39 Million Position in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,311 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,885 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Innospec worth $4,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Innospec in the fourth quarter worth $20,992,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Innospec during the fourth quarter valued at $11,312,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Innospec by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 312,880 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $34,436,000 after purchasing an additional 46,192 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Innospec by 7,113.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 33,542 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $31,780,000 after purchasing an additional 33,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Innospec in the 4th quarter worth about $2,931,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.64% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Innospec news, Director Leslie J. Parrette sold 446 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.31% of the company's stock.

Innospec Stock Performance

Shares of Innospec stock traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $88.70. 80,233 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 165,220. Innospec Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.32 and a 52 week high of $133.53. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $87.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.06. The company has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.13 and a beta of 1.05.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.02. Innospec had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $440.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $466.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $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 earnings per share for the current year.

Innospec announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Innospec Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on IOSP shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded 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 note 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.