StockNews.com Upgrades Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) to "Buy"

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday.

Innospec Price Performance

IOSP traded down $1.98 during trading on Monday, reaching $95.41. 24,531 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 138,585. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.19 and a beta of 1.08. Innospec has a 1 year low of $95.17 and a 1 year high of $133.71. The business's 50 day moving average price is $105.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.57.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $466.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.43 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Innospec will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

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Innospec declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Corbin Barnes sold 598 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,736.06. The trade was a 6.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 652 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 transaction of $67,351.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,376 shares in the company, valued at $865,240.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,696 shares of company stock worth $794,853 over the last three months. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Innospec by 3.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 336,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $38,057,000 after purchasing an additional 11,479 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Innospec by 24.6% during the 3rd 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Innospec by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 237,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $26,152,000 after buying an additional 2,633 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Innospec by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,103 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Innospec by 46.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 32,193 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,641,000 after acquiring an additional 10,162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.