Reliance (NYSE:RS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Reliance (NYSE:RS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

RS has been the topic of several other research reports. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Reliance in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $341.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Reliance from $315.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut Reliance from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $340.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Reliance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Reliance in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Reliance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $322.80.

Reliance Stock Performance

NYSE RS opened at $324.48 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $317.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $299.48. Reliance has a 12-month low of $260.31 and a 12-month high of $365.59. The company has a current ratio of 4.88, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $16.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.88.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.40). Reliance had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 10.45%. The business had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. Reliance’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Reliance has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.500-4.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Reliance will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from Reliance’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Reliance

In other Reliance news, SVP William A. Smith II sold 6,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.61, for a total transaction of $1,975,305.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 21,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,493,871.67. This trade represents a 23.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Stephen Paul Koch sold 24,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.62, for a total value of $7,738,177.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 14,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,509,434.02. This trade represents a 63.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Reliance

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Reliance during the 3rd quarter worth $1,576,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Reliance by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 755,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $212,243,000 after purchasing an additional 30,765 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Reliance during the 4th quarter worth $10,297,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Reliance by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,284 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,015,000 after purchasing an additional 4,817 shares during the period. Finally, First National Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Reliance during the 3rd quarter worth $1,948,000. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Reliance

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co (NYSE: RS) is a leading metals service center company that distributes and processes a broad array of metal products. The company offers cut-to-length, shearing, blanking, sawing, bending, machining and value-added services for carbon and alloy steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass, titanium and specialty metal alloys. Its products serve diverse end markets, including energy, infrastructure, general manufacturing, transportation, aerospace and defense.

Founded in 1939 in Los Angeles, Reliance Steel & Aluminum has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions.