Reliance (NYSE:RS) Hits New 52-Week Low - Here's Why

Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $263.67 and last traded at $263.90, with a volume of 143876 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $268.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Reliance from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Reliance in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $341.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Reliance from $340.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $328.83.

Reliance Stock Down 1.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $14.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 3.31, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $302.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.65.

Reliance (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.66 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.38 billion. Reliance had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Reliance's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 3,892 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,117 shares in the company, valued at $27,569,396.30. The trade was a 4.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William A. Smith II sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.71, for a total value of $2,091,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,849 shares in the company, valued at $5,420,491.79. This represents a 27.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,724 shares of company stock valued at $6,856,500 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Reliance

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Reliance by 6.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 7,992 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Reliance by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 701 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Reliance by 13.2% in the second quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. increased its stake in shares of Reliance by 5.6% during the second quarter. Burney Co. now owns 68,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $19,652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,679 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Reliance by 20.3% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,858 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,672,000 after purchasing an additional 2,174 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company's stock.

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.