Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) Stake Raised by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.09% of Reliance worth $12,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Reliance during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Reliance by 157.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Reliance during the 3rd quarter worth about $78,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Reliance by 1,216.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 329 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Finally, Providence First Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Reliance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,000. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Reliance Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of Reliance stock opened at $286.34 on Friday. Reliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $256.98 and a 12-month high of $342.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 3.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $289.01 and its 200-day moving average is $290.38.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.22 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Reliance Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Reliance’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on RS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Reliance in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $341.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Reliance from $321.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Reliance from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 31,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.52, for a total value of $9,356,990.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,115,919.60. This represents a 25.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

About Reliance

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.