Reliance (NYSE:RS) Sets New 12-Month Low - Time to Sell?

Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $255.40 and last traded at $262.74, with a volume of 995 shares. The stock had previously closed at $264.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RS has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp upped 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 research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Reliance has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $319.00.

Reliance Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 3.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $285.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.06.

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

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Reliance Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This is a positive change from Reliance's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Reliance's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Reliance

In related news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 31,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $27,115,919.60. This trade represents a 25.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Reliance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Reliance in the 1st quarter worth approximately $173,000. Orser Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Reliance by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Orser Capital Management LLC now owns 6,439 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,859,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Reliance in the 1st quarter worth about $208,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Reliance by 33,792.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278,933 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,542,000 after acquiring an additional 278,110 shares during the period. Finally, Chancellor Financial Group WB LP bought a new stake in Reliance during the fourth quarter worth about $539,000. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.