Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $195.40 Million Position in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS - Free Report) by 53.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 725,685 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 252,955 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.34% of Reliance worth $195,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Reliance in the third quarter worth $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Reliance by 157.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Reliance during the 3rd quarter valued at about $78,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Reliance by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Reliance by 35,700.0% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 358 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Reliance Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RS traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $301.06. The company had a trading volume of 531,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 428,969. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $281.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.29. The stock has a market cap of $16.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 3.31, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Reliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $256.98 and a 1-year high of $342.20.

Reliance (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.74 by ($0.52). Reliance had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 6.33%. The company had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.04 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Reliance Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Reliance's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Reliance's dividend payout ratio is 28.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 3,892 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.90, for a total transaction of $1,260,618.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,569,396.30. The trade was a 4.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on RS shares. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Reliance from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Reliance from $340.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Reliance in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $341.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Reliance from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $328.17.

Reliance Profile

Reliance, Inc operates as a diversified metal solutions provider and the metals service center company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company distributes a line of approximately 100,000 metal products, including alloy, aluminum, brass, copper, carbon steel, stainless steel, titanium, and specialty steel products; and provides metals processing services to general manufacturing, non-residential construction, transportation, aerospace, energy, electronics and semiconductor fabrication, and heavy industries.