Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Short Interest Down 27.6% in August

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 large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 315,200 shares, a decrease of 27.6% from the August 15th total of 435,400 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 207,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Based on an average trading volume of 207,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company's shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Innospec

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Innospec by 2.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,493 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $12,554,000 after buying an additional 3,045 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Innospec by 9.3% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 77,760 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $7,368,000 after buying an additional 6,602 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Innospec by 27.7% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 47,545 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $4,505,000 after purchasing an additional 10,309 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Innospec by 63.2% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 327,289 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $31,011,000 after purchasing an additional 126,750 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Innospec by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,983 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 8,286 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.64% of the company's stock.

Innospec Trading Down 3.1%

NASDAQ:IOSP traded down $2.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $79.55. The stock had a trading volume of 773,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 165,475. Innospec has a 1-year low of $74.10 and a 1-year high of $128.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.52. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 101.99 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, topping 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 business had revenue of $439.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $440.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Innospec will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Innospec from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Innospec presently has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy".

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.