Royce & Associates LP Sells 57,622 Shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Royce & Associates LP decreased its stake in shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 777,711 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 57,622 shares during the period. Innospec accounts for approximately 0.8% of Royce & Associates LP's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Royce & Associates LP owned about 3.12% of Innospec worth $85,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IOSP. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Innospec by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 2,286 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in shares of Innospec by 17.8% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 17,409 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,625 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Innospec by 0.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 59,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $6,740,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Innospec in the third quarter worth about $3,726,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Innospec during the 3rd quarter worth about $254,000. Institutional investors own 96.64% of the company's stock.

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Innospec Stock Performance

IOSP traded down $0.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $98.42. 335,068 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 121,108. The company's fifty day moving average price is $107.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 69.31 and a beta of 1.08. Innospec Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.39 and a fifty-two week high of $133.71.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $447.43 million. Research analysts forecast that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Innospec announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Innospec news, SVP Corbin Barnes sold 2,692 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $278,083.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $831,668.30. This represents a 25.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Philip John Boon sold 3,754 shares of Innospec 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,074,160.70. This represents a 15.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,696 shares of company stock valued at $794,853 in the last ninety days. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Innospec from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th.

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.