BlackRock Inc. Purchases Shares of 4,381,323 Innospec Inc. $IOSP

BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,381,323 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $356,596,000. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Innospec at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Innospec by 175.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 490,884 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $35,844,000 after buying an additional 312,680 shares during the last quarter. Western Standard LLC raised its stake in Innospec by 894.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Innospec by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 484,968 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,119,000 after acquiring an additional 202,325 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position 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 during the period. Finally, Medina Value Partners LLC grew its stake in Innospec by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Medina Value Partners LLC now owns 378,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,991,000 after purchasing an additional 142,813 shares during the last quarter. 96.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IOSP. Weiss Ratings raised Innospec from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Innospec in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Innospec from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Innospec presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Innospec Price Performance

Shares of Innospec stock opened at $94.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $86.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.75. Innospec Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.51 and a 1 year high of $95.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.93.

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.22. Innospec had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $491.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $457.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Innospec Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

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.