Distribution Solutions Group (NASDAQ:DSGR) versus Reliance (NYSE:RS) Financial Comparison

Reliance (NYSE:RS) and Distribution Solutions Group (NASDAQ:DSGR) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Reliance and Distribution Solutions Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Reliance	1	5	2	1	2.33
Distribution Solutions Group	0	4	0	0	2.00

Reliance presently has a consensus price target of $379.83, suggesting a potential downside of 2.44%. Distribution Solutions Group has a consensus price target of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 0.42%. Given Distribution Solutions Group’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Distribution Solutions Group is more favorable than Reliance.

Profitability

This table compares Reliance and Distribution Solutions Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Reliance	5.65%	12.51%	8.47%
Distribution Solutions Group	0.44%	9.33%	3.41%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Reliance and Distribution Solutions Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Reliance	$14.29 billion	1.39	$739.40 million	$17.20	22.64
Distribution Solutions Group	$2.05 billion	0.79	$8.35 million	$0.19	183.45

Reliance has higher revenue and earnings than Distribution Solutions Group. Reliance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Distribution Solutions Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

79.3% of Reliance shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Distribution Solutions Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Reliance shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 78.8% of Distribution Solutions Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Reliance has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Distribution Solutions Group has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Reliance beats Distribution Solutions Group on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. It sells its products directly to original equipment manufacturers, which primarily include small machine shops and fabricators. The company was formerly known as Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. and changed its name to Reliance, Inc. in February 2024. Reliance, Inc. was founded in 1939 and is based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

About Distribution Solutions Group

Distribution Solutions Group, Inc., a specialty distribution company, engages in the provision of value-added distribution solutions in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. The company provides its solutions to the maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO); original equipment manufacturer (OEM); and industrial technology markets. It operates through three segments: Lawson, Gexpro Services, and TestEquity. The Lawson segment distributes of specialty products and services to the industrial, commercial, institutional, and government MRO market. The TestEquity segment distributes test and measurement equipment and solutions, industrial and electronic production supplies, and vendor managed inventory programs, as well as converting, fabrication, and adhesive solutions under the TestEquity, Hisco, TEquipment, Techni-Tool, Jensen Tools, and Instrumex brands. The Gexpro Services segment provides supply chain management solutions that offer VMI, kitting, global logistics management, manufacturing localization and import expertise, value engineering, and quality assurance. The company was formerly known as Lawson Products, Inc. and has changed to Distribution Solutions Group, Inc. 2022 Distribution Solutions Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1952 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.