Vestcor Inc Takes $236,000 Position in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,141 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Innospec by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Innospec by 82.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Innospec by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Innospec in the 3rd quarter valued at $215,000. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $67,351.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $865,240.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Corbin Barnes sold 2,692 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 $278,083.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $831,668.30. This trade represents a 25.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,696 shares of company stock valued at $794,853. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th.

Innospec Stock Performance

Shares of Innospec stock opened at $98.70 on Wednesday. Innospec Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.39 and a 1 year high of $133.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.51 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average is $107.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.19.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.05. Innospec had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 12.27%. The company had revenue of $466.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.43 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Innospec announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Innospec 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.