Reliance (NYSE:RS) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Reliance (NYSE:RS) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Reliance from $372.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Reliance from $378.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America downgraded Reliance from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Reliance from $378.00 to $376.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Reliance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $378.67.

Reliance Price Performance

NYSE:RS opened at $425.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $398.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $358.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Reliance has a 52 week low of $260.31 and a 52 week high of $433.02.

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

Reliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP William A. Smith II sold 2,353 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.21, for a total value of $974,636.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,033,188.74. This represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Arthur Ajemyan sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.11, for a total value of $902,242.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,004,010.40. This trade represents a 13.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Reliance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Reliance during the fourth quarter worth $61,317,000. Arjuna Capital purchased a new position in shares of Reliance in the fourth quarter valued at $1,838,000. Forsta AP Fonden purchased a new position in shares of Reliance in the fourth quarter valued at $2,022,000. Fulcrum Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Reliance during the 4th quarter worth $2,529,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its stake in shares of Reliance by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 76,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,035,000 after buying an additional 30,380 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.