Wall Street Zen Downgrades Reliance (NYSE:RS) to Buy

Reliance (NYSE:RS) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on RS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Reliance from $378.00 to $376.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Reliance from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Seaport Research Partners increased their price target on shares of Reliance from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Reliance from $372.00 to $398.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Reliance from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $378.67.

Reliance Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:RS opened at $425.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $398.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $358.23. Reliance has a 12-month low of $260.31 and a 12-month high of $433.02.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $6.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.47 by $0.80. Reliance had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 5.65%.The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Reliance will post 22.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Reliance

In other news, 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 transaction of $902,242.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,004,010.40. This represents a 13.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William A. Smith II sold 2,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,033,188.74. This represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Reliance

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RS. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Reliance during the second quarter worth $2,001,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new stake in Reliance during the second quarter worth $44,674,000. Odyssean LLC acquired a new stake in Reliance in the second quarter valued at $658,000. Man Group plc acquired a new stake in Reliance in the second quarter valued at $6,489,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Reliance in the second quarter valued at $1,084,000. 79.26% of the stock is 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.