Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Acquires 640 Shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Reliance were worth $1,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Reliance by 1.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,197,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $313,942,000 after buying an additional 12,166 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Reliance by 35.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 723,755 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $189,790,000 after buying an additional 189,326 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Reliance by 6.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 675,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $177,215,000 after buying an additional 37,971 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Reliance by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 536,462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $150,038,000 after buying an additional 35,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Reliance by 0.5% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 324,868 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,190,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Reliance Price Performance

NYSE:RS opened at $313.49 on Thursday. Reliance, Inc. has a one year low of $229.12 and a one year high of $342.20. The company has a market cap of $18.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $325.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 5.66 and a quick ratio of 3.23.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.48 by ($0.18). Reliance had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.37 earnings per share. Reliance’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Reliance, Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Reliance Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.10 dividend. This is an increase from Reliance’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Reliance’s payout ratio is currently 19.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Reliance

In related news, Director James Donald Hoffman sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.95, for a total value of $12,918,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,042 shares in the company, valued at $17,452,863.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.96, for a total value of $209,924.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 83,884 shares in the company, valued at $27,091,176.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James Donald Hoffman sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were 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 $17,452,863.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 85,996 shares of company stock worth $27,603,878 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on RS shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Reliance from $300.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Reliance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $380.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Reliance from $295.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.67.

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.