Reliance (NYSE:RS) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Reliance (NYSE:RS) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on RS. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Reliance from $355.00 to $345.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Reliance from $300.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Reliance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th.

Reliance Trading Up 1.1 %

Reliance stock traded up $3.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $295.41. 438,149 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 256,546. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.92. Reliance has a 12 month low of $229.12 and a 12 month high of $342.20. The company has a quick ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 5.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $319.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $293.74.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.51 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Reliance had a return on equity of 16.26% and a net margin of 8.67%. Reliance’s quarterly revenue was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.37 EPS. Analysts forecast that Reliance will post 19.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Reliance

In other news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.96, for a total transaction of $209,924.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 83,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,091,176.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Reliance news, Director James Donald Hoffman sold 40,000 shares of Reliance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.95, for a total transaction of $12,918,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,452,863.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.96, for a total value of $209,924.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 83,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,091,176.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 100,996 shares of company stock valued at $31,966,978. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Reliance in the 4th quarter worth about $186,693,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Reliance by 35.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 723,755 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $189,790,000 after acquiring an additional 189,326 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Reliance by 68.6% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 193,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,699,000 after acquiring an additional 78,699 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 65,691 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Reliance by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 885,818 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $247,746,000 after purchasing an additional 64,895 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% 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.