7,900 Shares in Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 7,900 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Encore Wire by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 49,324 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $10,668,000 after acquiring an additional 10,366 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in Encore Wire during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,840,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Encore Wire by 501.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 74,015 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $13,505,000 after purchasing an additional 61,714 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Encore Wire by 2,928.3% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,996 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 5,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd grew its holdings in Encore Wire by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd now owns 27,272 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $4,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.82% of the company’s stock.

Encore Wire Price Performance

Shares of WIRE stock opened at $284.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 1.31. Encore Wire Co. has a 1-year low of $138.20 and a 1-year high of $295.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $243.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $214.99.

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The electronics maker reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.05. Encore Wire had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The business had revenue of $633.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $601.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.28 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Encore Wire Co. will post 21.23 EPS for the current year.

Encore Wire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. Encore Wire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 0.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WIRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. CJS Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Encore Wire in a report on Friday. Sidoti reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Encore Wire in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Encore Wire from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of Encore Wire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $295.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday.

Encore Wire Profile

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.