Reliance (NYSE:RS) Raised to Peer Perform at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Reliance (NYSE:RS - Free Report) from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on RS. KeyCorp cut their price target on Reliance from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Reliance from $340.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Reliance in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $341.00 price objective on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $328.83.

Reliance Trading Down 1.1 %

RS stock traded down $2.84 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $267.27. The company had a trading volume of 507,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 479,371. The stock has a market cap of $14.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $296.49 and a 200-day moving average of $290.21. 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 has a one year low of $256.98 and a one year high of $342.20.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $3.66 by ($0.02). Reliance had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.00 EPS. The business's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Reliance will post 16.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Reliance's payout ratio is currently 24.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP William A. Smith II sold 6,500 shares of Reliance stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.71, for a total transaction of $2,091,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,420,491.79. This trade represents a 27.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,569,396.30. This trade represents a 4.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,724 shares of company stock valued at $6,856,500. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Reliance

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Reliance in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Reliance by 157.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Reliance by 27.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 249 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Reliance during the third quarter valued at about $78,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Reliance by 17.9% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 270 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company's stock.

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.