Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,515 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 567 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Encore Wire worth $2,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Encore Wire by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 49,324 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $10,668,000 after purchasing an additional 10,366 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Encore Wire by 501.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 74,015 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $13,505,000 after acquiring an additional 61,714 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Encore Wire by 2,928.3% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,996 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 5,798 shares during the last quarter. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Encore Wire by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd now owns 27,272 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $4,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Encore Wire during the 3rd quarter worth $720,000. 99.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WIRE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. CJS Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Encore Wire in a research report on Friday, April 19th. 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 research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Encore Wire in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Sidoti restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Encore Wire in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th.

Encore Wire Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WIRE opened at $284.06 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $248.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.64. The company has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.07 and a beta of 1.31. Encore Wire Co. has a 52-week low of $138.20 and a 52-week high of $295.90.

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $632.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $579.64 million. Encore Wire had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Encore Wire Co. will post 21.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Encore Wire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Investors 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 yield of 0.03%. Encore Wire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.