Northern Trust Corp Buys 15,912 Shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 327,476 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,912 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.31% of Innospec worth $36,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of IOSP. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Innospec by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 967 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Innospec by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Innospec by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,868 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Innospec by 1.4% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Innospec by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.64% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Innospec news, SVP Corbin Barnes sold 598 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.06, for a total transaction of $61,629.88. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,051 shares in the company, valued at $829,736.06. This represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Philip John Boon sold 3,754 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $387,788.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,079 shares in the company, valued at $2,074,160.70. This represents a 15.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,696 shares of company stock worth $794,853 in the last quarter. 1.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Innospec from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Innospec from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st.

Innospec Price Performance

NASDAQ IOSP traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $88.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 44,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,038. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.44 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $91.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.12. Innospec Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.32 and a 52-week high of $133.59.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.02. Innospec had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 12.27%. The company had revenue of $440.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.50 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Innospec declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a $0.84 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This is an increase from Innospec's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.79. Innospec's dividend payout ratio is 155.56%.

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.