Rhumbline Advisers Grows Holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS - Free Report) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 181,125 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,389 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.33% of Reliance worth $48,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RS. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Reliance by 6,311.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 816,465 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $219,841,000 after buying an additional 803,730 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Reliance by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 472,730 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $136,718,000 after purchasing an additional 77,937 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of Reliance by 7.3% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 296,033 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $85,616,000 after buying an additional 20,056 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Reliance by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 285,871 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $82,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Reliance by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 203,156 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $58,755,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on RS shares. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Reliance from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Reliance from $340.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Reliance from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Reliance in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $341.00 target price for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $328.17.

Reliance Trading Up 3.9 %

RS stock traded up $11.50 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $305.12. 472,674 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 413,439. Reliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $256.98 and a 52-week high of $342.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 3.31. The business has a 50 day moving average of $281.72 and a 200-day moving average of $289.07.

Reliance (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). Reliance had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. This is a positive change from Reliance's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Reliance's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Reliance

In other Reliance news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 3,892 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.90, for a total value of $1,260,618.80. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.69% 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.