Barclays Begins Coverage on Reliance (NYSE:RS)

Equities researchers at Barclays began coverage on shares of Reliance (NYSE:RS) in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set an “equal weight” rating and a $420.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 3.99% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on RS. Weiss Ratings upgraded Reliance from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Reliance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Reliance from $418.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Reliance from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Reliance from $398.00 to $391.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Reliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $387.43.

Reliance Trading Down 0.8%

Reliance stock traded down $3.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $403.87. The stock had a trading volume of 3,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,366. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $398.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $380.70. Reliance has a one year low of $260.31 and a one year high of $433.02. The stock has a market cap of $20.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.95. 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 (NYSE:RS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $6.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by $0.80. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.43 earnings per share. Reliance has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 6.400-6.600 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Reliance will post 23.70 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Reliance

In other news, SVP William A. Smith II sold 2,353 shares of Reliance stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Arthur Ajemyan sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.11, for a total value of $902,242.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,004,010.40. This represents a 13.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RS. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Reliance during the second quarter worth about $2,171,081,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Reliance in the 2nd quarter valued at about $176,913,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Reliance during the second quarter valued at about $142,900,000. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new stake in shares of Reliance in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $129,799,000. Finally, XXEC Inc. acquired a new position in Reliance during the second quarter worth $127,493,000. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Reliance News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Reliance this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded RS to Hold. The change suggests the analyst sees less downside risk than previously, although a Hold rating is not a strong bullish signal. Zacks report
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings expectations remain favorable. Zacks said Reliance appears positioned for a potential earnings beat, citing a favorable combination of operating and estimate trends. The company’s latest reported quarter already exceeded consensus, with $6.27 in EPS versus $5.47 expected and revenue of $4.63 billion versus $4.26 billion estimated. Earnings expectations article
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings are drawing investor attention. Reliance is projected to release results shortly, making estimates and guidance important near-term catalysts. The company’s Q3 2026 EPS guidance of $6.40–$6.60 is above its prior-year quarterly EPS of $4.43. Reliance earnings schedule
• Neutral Sentiment: Jio Platforms’ planned IPO is unrelated to RS. Reports describe Reliance Industries’ Jio Platforms filing a roughly ?30,213 crore IPO, but that company is separate from Reliance, Inc., the U.S.-listed metals distributor. The headlines should not be treated as a direct valuation or earnings catalyst for RS. Jio Platforms IPO article
• Neutral Sentiment: Reliance Power and Reliance Consumer headlines also involve different companies. Reports about an enforcement seizure involving Reliance Power and a new dairy beverage from Reliance Consumer do not directly affect Reliance, Inc. (RS).

About Reliance

Reliance, operating as Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co (NYSE: RS), is a diversified metals service center company. It distributes a broad range of metals, including carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass, titanium and specialty steel products, serving manufacturers, fabricators, construction companies and other industrial customers.

The company provides value-added services designed to prepare metals for customer use. These services include cutting, leveling, slitting, sawing, machining, forming, coating, welding and other fabrication processes.