Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) Stock Holdings Lessened by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,515 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 567 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Encore Wire were worth $2,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Encore Wire by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,172 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $891,000 after buying an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Encore Wire by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,955 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,699,000 after buying an additional 1,959 shares in the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Encore Wire by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 66,879 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $14,285,000 after buying an additional 2,183 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Encore Wire by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,125 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $668,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio boosted its stake in Encore Wire by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 700 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.82% of the company’s stock.

Encore Wire Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WIRE opened at $284.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $248.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $218.64.

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $632.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $579.64 million. Encore Wire had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Encore Wire Co. will post 21.23 EPS for the current year.

Encore Wire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.03%. Encore Wire’s payout ratio is currently 0.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Encore Wire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $295.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Sidoti restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Encore Wire in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. CJS Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Encore Wire in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Encore Wire in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

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.