Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $20.99 Million in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 190,735 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,992,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.76% of Innospec as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of IOSP. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Innospec during the fourth quarter worth $53,457,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Innospec by 24.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 266,688 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,160,000 after acquiring an additional 52,640 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Innospec during the third quarter worth $5,486,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Innospec by 357.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,039,000 after acquiring an additional 34,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Innospec during the third quarter worth $3,726,000. 96.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Innospec Trading Up 1.3 %

Innospec stock opened at $98.09 on Monday. Innospec Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.39 and a 1-year high of $133.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.08 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $107.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.41.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.43 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Innospec Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Innospec declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Innospec

In related news, SVP Corbin Barnes sold 598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.06, for a total transaction of $61,629.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $829,736.06. This trade represents a 6.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Philip John Boon sold 3,754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were 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 $2,074,160.70. The trade was a 15.75 % 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 valued at $794,853 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday.

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.