Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Innospec from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Innospec in a report on Thursday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Innospec Price Performance

Shares of Innospec stock opened at $78.19 on Friday. Innospec has a fifty-two week low of $70.10 and a fifty-two week high of $117.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -2,606.33 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $74.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.61.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.09. Innospec had a positive return on equity of 10.28% and a negative net margin of 0.07%.The company had revenue of $441.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $443.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Innospec will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Innospec

In related news, Director Leslie J. Parrette acquired 340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $74.09 per share, for a total transaction of $25,190.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $432,463.33. This represents a 6.19% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Innospec in the first quarter worth $42,966,000. Medina Value Partners LLC bought a new stake in Innospec during the third quarter worth about $18,206,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Innospec by 8,176.5% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 170,414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $16,147,000 after purchasing an additional 168,355 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Innospec during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,230,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of Innospec by 72.1% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 306,761 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,796,000 after purchasing an additional 128,544 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.64% of the company’s stock.

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.