Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) Shares Sold by Dearborn Partners LLC

Dearborn Partners LLC cut its holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 70,354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 16,052 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC owned about 0.13% of Reliance worth $18,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Reliance in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Reliance by 157.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Reliance in the 3rd quarter valued at about $78,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Reliance by 1,216.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 329 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Finally, Providence First Trust Co bought a new position in Reliance in the 4th quarter worth about $90,000. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Reliance Price Performance

NYSE RS opened at $283.38 on Tuesday. Reliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $256.98 and a 12 month high of $342.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.01 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $285.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 3.21 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.74 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Reliance had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 11.87%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. This is an increase from Reliance’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.09%.

Insider Activity

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

Reliance Company 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.