Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 112,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,821 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Reliance were worth $32,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Reliance by 78.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 289,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,816,000 after buying an additional 127,422 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Reliance by 27,269.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 112,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,453,000 after acquiring an additional 111,803 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Reliance by 19.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 472,730 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $136,718,000 after acquiring an additional 77,937 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Reliance by 68.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 139,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,391,000 after purchasing an additional 56,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Reliance by 4.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,168,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $333,809,000 after purchasing an additional 53,747 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Reliance Stock Down 4.1 %

RS stock opened at $268.47 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.31, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $303.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $291.84. Reliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $264.99 and a 12 month high of $342.20. The company has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 0.87.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.66 by ($0.02). Reliance had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.00 EPS. Reliance’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Reliance, Inc. 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 dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on RS. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Reliance in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $341.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Reliance from $340.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on Reliance from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $328.83.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $1,260,618.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,569,396.30. This trade represents a 4.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark V. Kaminski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.01, for a total value of $1,490,050.00. 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. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.