Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Short Interest Up 35.3% in August

Key Points

• Innospec Inc. experienced a significant increase in short interest, rising by 35.3% in August to a total of 435,400 shares.
• Hedge funds and institutional investors now hold approximately 96.64% of Innospec's stock, with several firms making substantial changes to their positions in the company.
• The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, despite revenue being slightly lower than estimates.

Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 435,400 shares, an increase of 35.3% from the July 31st total of 321,800 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 206,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Based on an average trading volume of 206,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Innospec

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Innospec in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tsfg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Innospec in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Innospec by 1,159.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 529 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Innospec by 38.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 672 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its position in Innospec by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 801 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy".

Innospec Stock Performance

Shares of IOSP stock traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $82.69. The company had a trading volume of 153,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 156,941. Innospec has a 12 month low of $74.10 and a 12 month high of $128.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.01 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's fifty day moving average is $84.34 and its 200 day moving average is $88.13.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.09. Innospec had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 1.08%.The company had revenue of $439.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $440.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Innospec will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.