Guidance Capital Inc. Trims Stake in Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE)

Guidance Capital Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) by 9.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,299 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. Guidance Capital Inc.’s holdings in Encore Wire were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Encore Wire by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 49,324 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $10,668,000 after buying an additional 10,366 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Encore Wire by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 23,600 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,202,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200 shares in the last quarter. Ogborne Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Encore Wire during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,278,000. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL purchased a new position in Encore Wire during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $871,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Encore Wire by 2,928.3% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,996 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,094,000 after buying an additional 5,798 shares in the last quarter. 99.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Encore Wire Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WIRE traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $289.83. 1,234,273 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 495,271. The company has a fifty day moving average of $284.68 and a 200 day moving average of $250.66. Encore Wire Co. has a twelve month low of $150.51 and a twelve month high of $295.90. The company has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.38 and a beta of 1.23.

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $632.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $579.64 million. Encore Wire had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Encore Wire Co. 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 will be paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.03%. Encore Wire’s payout ratio is currently 0.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WIRE shares. CJS Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Encore Wire in a report on Friday, April 19th. 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 report on Tuesday, April 16th. Sidoti restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Encore Wire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Encore Wire in a research note on Friday. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

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.