Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) experienced a 27.6% decrease in short interest in August, with 315,200 shares sold short as of August 31st.
• Wall Street analysts upgraded Innospec's rating from "hold" to "buy," with a consensus rating of "Strong Buy."
• Institutional investors own 96.64% of Innospec's stock, indicating strong support from hedge funds and other major financial entities.

Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 315,200 shares, a drop of 27.6% from the August 15th total of 435,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 207,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 207,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Innospec from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy".

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Innospec

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IOSP. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Innospec by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 69,578 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $7,658,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Innospec by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,983 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 8,286 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in Innospec by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 5,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $626,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Innospec by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,188 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,562,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Innospec during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $237,000. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Innospec Trading Down 2.5%

NASDAQ IOSP opened at $80.62 on Tuesday. Innospec has a 1-year low of $74.10 and a 1-year high of $128.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $84.22 and a 200-day moving average of $87.86. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.36 and a beta of 1.11.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.09. Innospec had a net margin of 1.08% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The company had revenue of $439.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $440.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Innospec will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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