Arizona State Retirement System Sells 305 Shares of Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE)

Arizona State Retirement System decreased its stake in Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,698 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 305 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Encore Wire were worth $1,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WIRE. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Encore Wire by 1,243.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 618,565 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,788,000 after buying an additional 572,539 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Encore Wire in the fourth quarter worth about $25,846,000. Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Encore Wire during the third quarter worth about $24,143,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Encore Wire by 364.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 150,871 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $20,754,000 after purchasing an additional 118,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Encore Wire by 21.6% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 574,828 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $104,883,000 after purchasing an additional 102,062 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut Encore Wire from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd.

Encore Wire Trading Up 11.6 %

NASDAQ:WIRE opened at $291.23 on Tuesday. Encore Wire Co. has a 12-month low of $138.20 and a 12-month high of $295.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $240.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 1.31.

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The electronics maker reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $633.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $601.48 million. Encore Wire had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Encore Wire Co. will post 16.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Encore Wire Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Encore Wire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 0.37%.

About Encore Wire

Encore Wire Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of electrical building wires and cables in the United States. It offers NM-B cables, UF-B cables, THHN/THWN-2, XHHW-2, USE-2, RHH/RHW-2, and other types of wire products, including SEU, SER, photovoltaic, URD, tray cables, metal-clads, and armored cables.