Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 257,500 shares, a growth of 16.0% from the July 31st total of 221,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 128,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Innospec Stock Up 1.2 %

Innospec stock traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $115.26. 159,100 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 110,724. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57 and a beta of 1.10. Innospec has a 12 month low of $95.69 and a 12 month high of $133.71. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.31.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $435.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.73 million. Innospec had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 14.15%. Innospec’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Innospec will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Innospec

In other news, CFO Ian Cleminson sold 3,398 shares of Innospec stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.74, for a total transaction of $389,886.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,491,161.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Innospec

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Innospec in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,925,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Innospec by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,115,167 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $401,670,000 after acquiring an additional 161,249 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Innospec by 98.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 120,082 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $14,841,000 after purchasing an additional 59,554 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Innospec by 204,935.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 57,410 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,075,000 after purchasing an additional 57,382 shares during the period. Finally, Gendell Jeffrey L bought a new position in shares of Innospec during the 1st quarter worth about $7,090,000. Institutional investors own 96.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Innospec from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th.

About Innospec

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.