Reliance (NYSE:RS) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $423.83 and last traded at $423.81, with a volume of 13982 shares. The stock had previously closed at $414.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners raised their target price on Reliance from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Reliance from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Reliance from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Reliance from $372.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Reliance in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Reliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $378.67.

Reliance Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 4.30. The company has a market capitalization of $21.31 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $392.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $352.73.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $6.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by $0.80. Reliance had a net margin of 5.65% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Reliance has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 6.400-6.600 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Reliance, Inc. will post 21.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Reliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders 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 payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

Insider Activity at Reliance

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Reliance in the second quarter valued at about $23,725,000. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in Reliance by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,124 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Reliance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $418,000. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab raised its stake in shares of Reliance by 542.5% during the 2nd quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 9,766 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,649,000 after buying an additional 8,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Reliance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $640,000. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.