Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Short Interest Up 52.8% in March

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

Innospec Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ IOSP traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $94.75. 196,703 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 139,449. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.47. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.73 and a beta of 1.08. Innospec has a 1 year low of $92.84 and a 1 year high of $133.71.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) 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, analysts forecast that Innospec will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Innospec announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Philip John Boon sold 3,754 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,074,160.70. The trade was a 15.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Corbin Barnes sold 598 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.06, for a total value 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,696 shares of company stock worth $794,853 in the last ninety days. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Innospec

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IOSP. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Innospec by 0.6% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,805,546 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $204,189,000 after buying an additional 11,231 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Innospec by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 996,281 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $112,669,000 after acquiring an additional 20,744 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Innospec by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 922,220 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $101,500,000 after purchasing an additional 14,188 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Innospec by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 692,071 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,184,000 after purchasing an additional 14,788 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Innospec during the 4th quarter worth $53,457,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.