Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) Shares Sold by Putnam Investments LLC

Putnam Investments LLC reduced its holdings in Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE – Get Rating) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,701 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 137 shares during the quarter. Putnam Investments LLC’s holdings in Encore Wire were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Encore Wire by 71.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 395 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Encore Wire in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Encore Wire by 98.1% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,757 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Encore Wire during the 1st quarter valued at $221,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in shares of Encore Wire by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,842 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. 99.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Encore Wire from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 16th.

Encore Wire Stock Performance

Shares of WIRE stock opened at $176.76 on Tuesday. Encore Wire Co. has a 1 year low of $94.39 and a 1 year high of $206.74. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $168.63 and its 200-day moving average is $146.23.

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 15th. The electronics maker reported $8.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.61 by $3.67. The business had revenue of $693.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $631.04 million. Encore Wire had a return on equity of 43.96% and a net margin of 23.79%. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Encore Wire Co. will post 19.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Encore Wire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 5th. Encore Wire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 0.22%.

Insider Transactions at Encore Wire

In other news, insider Matthew D. Ford sold 2,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $545,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,827,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Matthew D. Ford sold 2,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $545,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,827,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew D. Ford sold 275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $55,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,372,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Encore Wire Company Profile

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Encore Wire Corp. engages in manufacturing copper electrical building wire and cable. The firm supplies building wire for interior electrical wiring in commercial and industrial buildings, homes, apartments and manufactured housing. It offers an electric building wire product line that consists primarily of NM-B cable, UF-B cable, THHN/THWN-2 and other types of wire products, including Metal Clad, Armored Cable, Photovoltaic Cable and Bare Copper.