WealthTrust Axiom LLC Buys 209 Shares of Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC raised its holdings in shares of Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,540 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in Encore Wire were worth $756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WIRE. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Encore Wire by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 203 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Encore Wire during the third quarter valued at approximately $91,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Encore Wire during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Encore Wire by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 700 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Encore Wire in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $205,000. 99.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WIRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sidoti restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective 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 report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Encore Wire in a report on Thursday, April 25th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. 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 report on Tuesday, April 16th.

Encore Wire Stock Performance

Shares of Encore Wire stock traded down $1.32 on Tuesday, hitting $281.71. 217,743 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 263,349. Encore Wire Co. has a 52 week low of $150.51 and a 52 week high of $295.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $250.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 1.31.

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE) last issued 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. Encore Wire had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $632.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $579.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Encore Wire Co. will post 21.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Encore Wire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.03%. Encore Wire’s payout ratio is currently 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.