Ritholtz Wealth Management Sells 2,237 Shares of Reliance, Inc. $RS

Ritholtz Wealth Management cut its holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,820 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,237 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Reliance were worth $1,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab lifted its holdings in shares of Reliance by 542.5% during the second quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 9,766 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,649,000 after purchasing an additional 8,246 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Reliance during the second quarter valued at $23,725,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Reliance in the 2nd quarter worth about $8,808,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Reliance by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 263,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,989,000 after buying an additional 12,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Reliance by 189.2% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,399,000 after buying an additional 4,202 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Reliance

Investors following RS have been watching these stories:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded Reliance from “Equal Weight” to “Overweight” and raised its price target to $507 from $445, signaling improved analyst confidence in the stock. Barclays stock recommendations
• Positive Sentiment: A Zacks article identified Reliance as a momentum stock amid market volatility and rate-hike fears, suggesting recent pullbacks may offer an opportunity in the shares. Zacks article on momentum stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: The article asking whether Reliance can repeat its past five years of performance may draw investor attention, but the headline alone does not provide new company-specific developments. Can Reliance Stock Repeat Its Last Five Years?

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Reliance news, COO Stephen Koch sold 8,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $3,590,870.58. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 8,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,537,011.83. This trade represents a 50.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Reliance Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RS traded down $5.96 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $427.73. 189,753 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 350,711. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $408.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $373.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 4.12. Reliance, Inc. has a one year low of $263.12 and a one year high of $454.93.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The industrial products company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.83 by $1.19. Reliance had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.38%. The firm had revenue of $5.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Reliance, Inc. will post 26.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Reliance from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Reliance from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Reliance from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Reliance from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 6th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Reliance from $421.00 to $437.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Reliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $415.50.

Reliance Profile

Reliance, Inc. is a metal service center company that distributes metals and provides processing services to customers across a range of industries. Its products include carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, alloy steel, brass, copper and other metals. The company processes materials to customer specifications through services such as cutting, sawing, slitting, machining, forming and laser, plasma or waterjet cutting. These services help customers prepare metal for use in manufacturing, construction, transportation, energy and other applications.