Insteel Industries (NASDAQ:IIIN) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Insteel Industries (NASDAQ:IIIN) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Insteel Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IIIN traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 547,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 104,699. Insteel Industries has a fifty-two week low of $26.86 and a fifty-two week high of $39.38. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $31.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.05. The company has a market cap of $532.45 million, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.10.

Insteel Industries (NASDAQ:IIIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.09). Insteel Industries had a net margin of 3.67% and a return on equity of 5.78%. The business had revenue of $145.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $153.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Insteel Industries will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Insteel Industries by 7.2% in the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 16,527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management increased its stake in Insteel Industries by 12.3% in the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 34,318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 3,747 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Insteel Industries by 8.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Insteel Industries by 6.2% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 42,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 2,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Insteel Industries by 26.8% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 353,806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,954,000 after acquiring an additional 74,791 shares during the last quarter. 83.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Insteel Industries

Insteel Industries, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets steel wire reinforcing products for concrete construction applications. The company offers prestressed concrete strand (PC strand) and welded wire reinforcement (WWR) products. Its PC strand is a seven-wire strand that is used to impart compression forces into precast concrete elements and structures providing reinforcement for bridges, parking decks, buildings, and other concrete structures.