Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 119,711 Shares of Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE)

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,710,312 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 119,711 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.85% of Encore Wire worth $365,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Encore Wire by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 203 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Encore Wire during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Encore Wire during the third quarter worth $91,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Encore Wire in the 4th quarter valued at $99,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Encore Wire during the 4th quarter valued at $145,000. 99.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Encore Wire Stock Up 0.0 %

WIRE opened at $289.75 on Friday. Encore Wire Co. has a twelve month low of $150.51 and a twelve month high of $295.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $284.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $249.63. The stock has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Encore Wire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. Encore Wire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 0.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Encore Wire Company 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.