Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 7,900 Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE)

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

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Encore Wire in the 1st quarter valued at $66,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Encore Wire by 231.5% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 358 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Encore Wire in the 3rd quarter valued at $91,000. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Encore Wire in the 4th quarter valued at $121,000. 99.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Encore Wire Stock Performance

Shares of Encore Wire stock traded down $2.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $284.40. 623,621 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 426,402. Encore Wire Co. has a 52-week low of $138.20 and a 52-week high of $295.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.71.

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The electronics maker reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $633.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $601.48 million. Encore Wire had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.28 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Encore Wire Co. will post 21.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Encore Wire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.03%. Encore Wire's payout ratio is 0.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WIRE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sidoti restated a "neutral" rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Encore Wire in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson lowered shares of Encore Wire from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $295.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded Encore Wire from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, CJS Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Encore Wire in a research report on Friday.

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.