Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Holdings in Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,734 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 456 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Encore Wire were worth $1,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WIRE. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Encore Wire during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $334,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in Encore Wire by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,249 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in Encore Wire by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 10,213 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,181,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC raised its stake in shares of Encore Wire by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 3,540 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in shares of Encore Wire during the 4th quarter valued at $854,000. Institutional investors own 99.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. CJS Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Encore Wire in a research note on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Encore Wire in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Sidoti reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Encore Wire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, DA Davidson cut shares of Encore Wire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $295.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 16th.

Encore Wire Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of WIRE opened at $281.02 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $258.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.21. Encore Wire Co. has a twelve month low of $150.51 and a twelve month high of $295.90. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91 and a beta of 1.28.

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $632.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $579.64 million. Encore Wire had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 17.77%. Encore Wire’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.50 EPS. Analysts expect that Encore Wire Co. will post 21.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Encore Wire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.03%. Encore Wire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 0.42%.

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.