Wall Street Zen Downgrades Reliance (NYSE:RS) to Buy

Reliance (NYSE:RS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Reliance from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Reliance from $398.00 to $391.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Reliance in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Reliance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Reliance from $378.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Reliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $377.50.

Reliance Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RS opened at $390.26 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $19.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.96. Reliance has a twelve month low of $260.31 and a twelve month high of $433.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $396.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $362.73.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $6.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.47 by $0.80. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. Reliance had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 5.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.43 earnings per share. Reliance has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 6.400-6.600 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Reliance will post 22.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Reliance news, CFO Arthur Ajemyan sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.11, for a total transaction of $902,242.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,004,010.40. The trade was a 13.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP William A. Smith II sold 2,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.21, for a total transaction of $974,636.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,033,188.74. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Reliance

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Reliance by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 15,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,364,000 after acquiring an additional 940 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Reliance by 4.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,635,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Reliance by 99.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Reliance by 2,192.5% during the second quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Reliance during the second quarter valued at about $1,318,000. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Reliance Company Profile

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co (NYSE: RS) is a leading metals service center company that distributes and processes a broad array of metal products. The company offers cut-to-length, shearing, blanking, sawing, bending, machining and value-added services for carbon and alloy steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass, titanium and specialty metal alloys. Its products serve diverse end markets, including energy, infrastructure, general manufacturing, transportation, aerospace and defense.

Founded in 1939 in Los Angeles, Reliance Steel & Aluminum has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions.