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

Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 579,100 shares, a growth of 36.6% from the September 30th total of 424,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 197,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 197,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Innospec

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Innospec by 8.8% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,917 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. State of Wyoming raised its position in shares of Innospec by 27.5% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 801 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Innospec by 0.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 23,062 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,939,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Innospec by 38.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 672 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in Innospec by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,082 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, October 19th. Zacks Research upgraded Innospec from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Innospec from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Innospec Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:IOSP opened at $72.26 on Wednesday. Innospec has a twelve month low of $71.82 and a twelve month high of $128.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $78.99 and its 200-day moving average is $83.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.09. Innospec had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 1.08%.The company had revenue of $441.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $443.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. Innospec’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Innospec will post 6.18 earnings per share 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.