Insteel Industries (NYSE:IIIN) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Insteel Industries (NYSE:IIIN) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday,Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on IIIN. Weiss Ratings raised Insteel Industries from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Insteel Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Insteel Industries Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE IIIN opened at $30.29 on Tuesday. Insteel Industries has a 12-month low of $24.35 and a 12-month high of $39.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $586.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.10 and a 200 day moving average of $30.38.

Insteel Industries (NYSE:IIIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $197.66 million for the quarter. Insteel Industries had a net margin of 5.14% and a return on equity of 9.92%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Insteel Industries will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Insteel Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Insteel Industries’s payout ratio is currently 6.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Insteel Industries

In other news, COO Richard Wagner sold 1,640 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.31, for a total value of $49,708.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,212,400. This represents a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IIIN. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Insteel Industries during the second quarter worth approximately $46,014,000. Robotti Robert bought a new stake in shares of Insteel Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,421,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new stake in shares of Insteel Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,023,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Insteel Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,726,000. Finally, Icon Advisers Inc. Co. purchased a new position in shares of Insteel Industries in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,126,000. Institutional investors own 83.27% of the company’s stock.

Insteel Industries Company Profile

Insteel Industries, Inc (NYSE: IIIN) manufactures steel products used primarily in the nonresidential and infrastructure construction markets. The company’s principal products are prestressed concrete steel strand, commonly used in prestressed and precast concrete, and welded wire reinforcement, which helps reinforce concrete structures.

Insteel sells its products primarily to manufacturers of prestressed and precast concrete products, concrete pipe, utility structures, and other construction-related products.