Skylands Capital LLC Lowers Stake in Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE)

Skylands Capital LLC cut its position in shares of Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) by 80.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,700 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 15,100 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in Encore Wire were worth $790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Encore Wire by 260.9% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,633 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 4,072 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Encore Wire by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 4,637 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Aquila Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Encore Wire by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Aquila Investment Management LLC now owns 9,000 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Encore Wire by 15.5% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 15,258 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Encore Wire by 28.3% during the third quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,019 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. 99.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Sidoti reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Encore Wire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Encore Wire in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. CJS Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Encore Wire in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Encore Wire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $295.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th.

Encore Wire Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WIRE opened at $283.50 on Tuesday. Encore Wire Co. has a one year low of $150.51 and a one year high of $295.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $250.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.41. The stock has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Encore Wire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.