Short Interest in Insteel Industries, Inc. (NYSE:IIIN) Expands By 77.4%

Insteel Industries, Inc. (NYSE:IIIN) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 764,753 shares, an increase of 77.4% from the April 15th total of 431,140 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 442,893 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 4.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Insteel Industries news, COO Richard Wagner sold 1,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.67, for a total transaction of $63,247.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,506,800. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Insteel Industries

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Insteel Industries by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Insteel Industries by 3.0% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 16,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Insteel Industries by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 9,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the period. Unison Advisors LLC lifted its position in Insteel Industries by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Insteel Industries by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 47,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,517,000 after buying an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. 83.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on IIIN. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Insteel Industries from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Insteel Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Insteel Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Insteel Industries Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE IIIN traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.90. 3,463 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 190,871. Insteel Industries has a 1 year low of $24.35 and a 1 year high of $41.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $483.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.53.

Insteel Industries (NYSE:IIIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.53). Insteel Industries had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 6.16%.The firm had revenue of $172.65 million during the quarter. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Insteel Industries will post 1.32 EPS for the current year.

Insteel Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Insteel Industries’s payout ratio is presently 5.50%.

Insteel Industries Company Profile

Insteel Industries, Inc is a leading manufacturer of steel wire reinforcing products used in concrete construction. The company specializes in the design, fabrication and distribution of welded-wire reinforcement, cut-and-bent reinforcement and related accessories for concrete walls, floors and columns. Its products are employed across residential, commercial and infrastructure projects, providing structural strength and dimensional stability in poured concrete applications.

Key product lines include truss mats—prefabricated, ladder-like assemblies of welded wire designed for rapid placement—and custom cut-and-bent wire assemblies that meet specific engineering requirements.