Providence First Trust Co Buys New Shares in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

Providence First Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 334 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RS. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Reliance in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Reliance by 157.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Reliance during the third quarter valued at approximately $78,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Reliance by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its position in Reliance by 35,700.0% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Reliance Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:RS opened at $297.36 on Friday. Reliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $256.98 and a 52 week high of $342.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $283.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 3.21. The firm has a market cap of $16.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26 and a beta of 0.91.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.74 by ($0.52). The business had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Reliance had a return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 6.33%. On average, equities analysts expect that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Reliance’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.09%.

Insider Transactions at Reliance

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.