Bailard Inc. Buys New Position in Reliance, Inc. $RS

Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,311,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of RS. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Reliance by 899.4% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 733,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $205,997,000 after buying an additional 660,128 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Reliance by 27.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,247,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $631,224,000 after buying an additional 484,286 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Reliance by 25.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,708,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $479,870,000 after buying an additional 343,598 shares during the period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in shares of Reliance in the fourth quarter worth about $61,317,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Reliance by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,597,755 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $729,528,000 after purchasing an additional 166,214 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Reliance Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NYSE RS opened at $369.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $18.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $323.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $309.90. Reliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.31 and a 52-week high of $381.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 4.39.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.63 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.89 billion. Reliance had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 5.42%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.77 EPS. Reliance has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 5.150-5.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Reliance, Inc. will post 18.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio is 32.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Stephen Paul Koch sold 24,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.62, for a total value of $7,738,177.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,509,434.02. The trade was a 63.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William A. Smith II sold 6,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.61, for a total value of $1,975,305.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 21,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,493,871.67. This represents a 23.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 34,175 shares of company stock valued at $10,966,902 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on RS shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Reliance from $341.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Reliance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Reliance from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Reliance in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Reliance from $323.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Reliance has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $344.67.

About Reliance

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.