Insteel Industries, Inc. (NYSE:IIIN) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell sharply in March, declining 32.1% to 431,205 shares with a days-to-cover ratio of 1.9 and about 2.4% of shares sold short.
• COO Richard Wagner sold 1,679 shares on Feb. 26 at an average price of $37.67, reducing his holdings to 40,000 shares (a 4.03% decrease), and insiders own 6.20% of the company.
• Earnings beat: Insteel reported Q4 EPS of $0.39 vs. $0.33 expected and revenue up 23.3% year-over-year; the company has a market cap of roughly $732M and pays a $0.03 quarterly dividend (≈0.3% yield).

Insteel Industries, Inc. (NYSE:IIIN - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 431,205 shares, a decline of 32.1% from the March 15th total of 634,735 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 224,999 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Richard Wagner sold 1,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.67, for a total value of $63,247.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,506,800. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Insteel Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Insteel Industries by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,641 shares of the company's stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its stake in Insteel Industries by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 16,900 shares of the company's stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Insteel Industries by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 9,421 shares of the company's stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Insteel Industries by 1.2% during 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. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Insteel Industries by 30.2% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.27% of the company's stock.

Insteel Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IIIN traded up $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.75. 97,466 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 148,163. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $732.25 million, a PE ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.83. Insteel Industries has a 12-month low of $26.24 and a 12-month high of $41.64.

Insteel Industries (NYSE:IIIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.06. Insteel Industries had a net margin of 7.01% and a return on equity of 13.51%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. Insteel Industries's revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Insteel Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Insteel Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 4.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Insteel Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Insteel Industries has an average rating of "Hold".

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.