Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 2,491 Shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS - Free Report) by 85.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,404 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 2,491 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Reliance were worth $1,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RS. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Reliance in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position 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 valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Reliance in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $78,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Reliance by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its position 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 valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Reliance

In other news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 3,892 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,117 shares in the company, valued at $27,569,396.30. This represents a 4.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Reliance Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE RS traded down $5.61 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $293.77. The stock had a trading volume of 531,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 411,838. The company has a market capitalization of $15.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 0.91. The company's 50-day moving average price is $281.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 3.31. Reliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $256.98 and a 12 month high of $342.20.

Reliance (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Reliance had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 7.42%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.38 EPS for the current year.

Reliance Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. This is a boost from Reliance's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Reliance's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Reliance from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Reliance from $340.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Reliance in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $341.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Reliance from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $328.17.

Reliance Company 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.