Prudential PLC Lowers Stock Position in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

Prudential PLC cut its holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS - Free Report) by 27.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,562 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 970 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Reliance were worth $690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RS. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Reliance in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Reliance by 157.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Reliance by 1,216.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 329 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new position in Reliance during the fourth quarter worth $90,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Reliance by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company's stock.

Reliance Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RS traded up $1.77 on Friday, hitting $279.38. The company had a trading volume of 357,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 400,663. The company has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $285.85 and a 200 day moving average of $290.06. Reliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $250.07 and a 52-week high of $330.46. The company has a current ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

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Reliance (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.74 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.04 billion. Reliance had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 11.87%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.20 dividend. This is a boost from Reliance's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Reliance's payout ratio is presently 31.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Reliance

In other Reliance news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 31,136 shares of Reliance stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.52, for a total value of $9,356,990.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,230 shares in the company, valued at $27,115,919.60. The trade was a 25.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on RS. KeyCorp raised their price target on Reliance from $321.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Reliance from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $319.00.

About Reliance

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.