Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 1,600 Shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its position in shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Reliance were worth $3,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of RS. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Reliance by 6,311.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 816,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $219,841,000 after purchasing an additional 803,730 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Reliance by 53.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 725,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $195,402,000 after buying an additional 252,955 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Reliance by 7.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 20,056 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Reliance by 0.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 285,871 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,677,000 after buying an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Reliance by 0.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 203,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $58,755,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Reliance in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $341.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Reliance from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Reliance from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $328.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 3,892 shares of Reliance stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.90, for a total value 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 approximately $27,569,396.30. The trade was a 4.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Reliance Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE RS opened at $301.06 on Monday. Reliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $256.98 and a 12-month high of $342.20. The company has a market cap of $16.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $281.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.35.

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

Reliance Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Reliance’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.09%.

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.