Short Interest in Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) Declines By 64.7%

Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,060,000 shares, a decrease of 64.7% from the April 15th total of 3,000,000 shares. Currently, 7.2% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 289,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Encore Wire Price Performance

Shares of WIRE stock traded up $0.54 on Friday, hitting $280.90. The stock had a trading volume of 151,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,197. Encore Wire has a 12-month low of $150.51 and a 12-month high of $295.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $260.24 and a 200 day moving average of $226.36. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 1.28.

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.27. Encore Wire had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The business had revenue of $632.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $579.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.50 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Encore Wire will post 21.24 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 issued 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 presently 0.42%.

Institutional Trading of Encore Wire

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its position in Encore Wire by 10.7% during the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 414 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its position in Encore Wire by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 5,330 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Encore Wire by 42.0% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 142 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. FCG Investment Co boosted its position in Encore Wire by 3.8% during the first quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 1,297 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Encore Wire by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 4,104 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $877,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WIRE has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Encore Wire from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $295.00 price objective on the stock. 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. Sidoti reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Encore Wire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Encore Wire in a report on Friday, May 3rd. They issued a "hold" rating for the company.

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.