Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) Shares Purchased by Comerica Bank

Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned 0.06% of Reliance worth $10,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Reliance in the fourth quarter valued at $186,693,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Reliance by 20.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,072,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $358,270,000 after buying an additional 184,509 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Reliance by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 286,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $80,226,000 after buying an additional 65,691 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Reliance by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 885,818 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $247,746,000 after buying an additional 64,895 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Reliance by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 177,771 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,719,000 after purchasing an additional 60,229 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Reliance Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RS traded down $10.54 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $294.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 151,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 311,448. Reliance, Inc. has a one year low of $237.14 and a one year high of $342.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $291.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $303.10. The company has a current ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $16.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 0.86.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.73 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. Reliance had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 14.73%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Reliance, Inc. will post 18.06 EPS for the current year.

Reliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio is 20.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RS. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Reliance from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Reliance from $341.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Reliance from $355.00 to $345.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Reliance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Reliance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $280.00 to $380.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Reliance news, COO Stephen Paul Koch sold 20,421 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $6,031,954.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,709.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Stephen Paul Koch sold 20,421 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $6,031,954.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,230,709.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James Donald Hoffman sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.04, for a total transaction of $1,450,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,042 shares in the company, valued at $12,773,941.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $10,417,805 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Reliance 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.