Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 458,800 shares, a growth of 52.8% from the February 28th total of 300,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 209,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Innospec Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of IOSP traded down $2.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $95.20. 123,563 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 139,220. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.04 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $105.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.55. Innospec has a 12-month low of $94.77 and a 12-month high of $133.71.

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

Innospec announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Innospec

In related news, SVP Corbin Barnes sold 2,692 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $278,083.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $831,668.30. This represents a 25.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Philip John Boon sold 3,754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $387,788.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,074,160.70. This represents a 15.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,696 shares of company stock worth $794,853 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Innospec

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IOSP. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Innospec in the fourth quarter valued at $53,457,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Innospec in the 4th quarter valued at about $20,992,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Innospec in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,312,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Innospec by 24.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 266,688 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,160,000 after buying an additional 52,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Innospec during the third quarter worth about $5,486,000. 96.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Innospec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th.

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.