Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE) Stock Rating Lowered by DA Davidson

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE) was downgraded by equities research analysts at DA Davidson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $295.00 price target on the electronics maker’s stock. DA Davidson’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 2.71% from the company’s current price.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Encore Wire from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd.

Encore Wire Stock Performance

Encore Wire stock traded down $2.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $287.23. 959,815 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 243,900. Encore Wire has a 52 week low of $138.20 and a 52 week high of $295.90. The firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $240.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.22.

Encore Wire (NASDAQ:WIRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The electronics maker reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.05. Encore Wire had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business had revenue of $633.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $601.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.28 earnings per share. Encore Wire’s quarterly revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Encore Wire will post 16.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Encore Wire

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its position in shares of Encore Wire by 10.7% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 414 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its position in shares of Encore Wire by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 5,330 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Encore Wire by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 4,104 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $877,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of Encore Wire by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 10,213 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Encore Wire by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 1,516 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 99.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.