Burney Co. Purchases New Stake in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Burney Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 27,435 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,019,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Innospec during the fourth quarter worth about $220,000. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in Innospec by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,543 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 valued at $30,160,000 after buying an additional 52,640 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Innospec by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,282 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,116,000 after buying an additional 2,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Innospec by 63.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,152 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares in the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Innospec Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IOSP opened at $113.06 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $114.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.92. Innospec Inc. has a 1-year low of $103.65 and a 1-year high of $133.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73 and a beta of 1.09.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.35. Innospec had a net margin of 7.68% and a return on equity of 13.33%. The firm had revenue of $443.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. Innospec’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Innospec Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Innospec Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.79 dividend. This is an increase from Innospec’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.3%. Innospec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.57%.

Insider Activity at Innospec

In other Innospec news, Director Milton C. Blackmore sold 1,035 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.92, for a total value of $127,222.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,109,721.76. This trade represents a 10.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Innospec from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th.

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.