Forge First Asset Management Inc. Acquires 34,915 Shares of Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE)

Forge First Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Encore Wire Co. (NASDAQ:WIRE) by 116.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,942 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,915 shares during the period. Encore Wire makes up 6.1% of Forge First Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Forge First Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.39% of Encore Wire worth $12,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Encore Wire in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Encore Wire during the first quarter worth approximately $66,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Encore Wire by 33.8% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 368 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Encore Wire in the 1st quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Encore Wire during the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,000. Institutional investors own 99.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. CJS Securities began coverage on Encore Wire in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $235.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Encore Wire from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Encore Wire from $250.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th.

Encore Wire Stock Performance

WIRE traded down $4.93 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $195.43. The stock had a trading volume of 34,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 235,365. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.82 and a beta of 1.26. Encore Wire Co. has a 52 week low of $132.32 and a 52 week high of $206.74. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.98.

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The electronics maker reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $636.99 million for the quarter. Encore Wire had a return on equity of 25.60% and a net margin of 17.51%. As a group, analysts expect that Encore Wire Co. will post 21.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Encore Wire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 19th. Investors of record on Friday, January 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 4th. Encore Wire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 0.31%.

About Encore Wire

Encore Wire Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of electrical building wires and cables in the United States. The company 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.