Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.69 Million in Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,900 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.05% of Encore Wire as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WIRE. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Encore Wire by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 203 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Encore Wire during the 1st quarter worth about $66,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Encore Wire by 231.5% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 358 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Encore Wire during the 3rd quarter worth about $91,000. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Encore Wire during the 4th quarter worth about $121,000. 99.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WIRE. DA Davidson lowered shares of Encore Wire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $295.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Encore Wire from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Sidoti reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Encore Wire in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, CJS Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Encore Wire in a research note on Friday.

Encore Wire Trading Down 0.9 %

WIRE stock opened at $284.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 1.31. Encore Wire Co. has a 12 month low of $138.20 and a 12 month high of $295.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $243.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $214.99.

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The electronics maker reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $633.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $601.48 million. Encore Wire had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 20.92%. Encore Wire’s quarterly revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.28 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Encore Wire Co. will post 21.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Encore Wire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were issued a $0.02 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 0.37%.

Encore Wire 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.