Insider Selling: Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) Director Sells $45,476.64 in Stock

Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Director David Landless sold 594 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.56, for a total value of $45,476.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,305.92. This represents a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Innospec Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of IOSP opened at $74.22 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $80.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.03. Innospec Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.10 and a 12-month high of $102.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.90.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.24. Innospec had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $455.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $460.87 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Innospec

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IOSP. Western Standard LLC raised its position in shares of Innospec by 894.0% during the 4th quarter. Western Standard LLC now owns 268,367 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $20,541,000 after acquiring an additional 241,367 shares in the last quarter. Medina Value Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Innospec in the 3rd quarter valued at $18,206,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Innospec by 71.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 484,968 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,119,000 after buying an additional 202,325 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Innospec by 8,176.5% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 170,414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $16,147,000 after acquiring an additional 168,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Innospec during the 4th quarter worth $10,654,000. 96.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Innospec from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Innospec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Innospec from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

About Innospec

Innospec Incorporated (NASDAQ: IOSP) is a global specialty chemicals company headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. The company operates through three principal business segments: Fuel Specialties, Oilfield Services, and Performance Chemicals. In the Fuel Specialties segment, Innospec develops and supplies additives designed to enhance octane levels, improve combustion efficiency, reduce emissions and prevent deposit formation in gasoline and diesel engines. Its Oilfield Services division provides chemical technologies—such as surfactants, corrosion inhibitors and demulsifiers—to support exploration, drilling, production optimization and enhanced oil recovery operations.