Eagle Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,065 Shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,065 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Reliance were worth $2,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Reliance during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Reliance by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Reliance by 17.9% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Reliance in the second quarter valued at about $117,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Reliance by 17.6% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Reliance Stock Performance

RS opened at $322.93 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $296.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $290.96. The company has a market cap of $17.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 3.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Reliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $261.77 and a 52-week high of $342.20.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. Reliance had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Reliance’s payout ratio is presently 24.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RS. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Reliance from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Reliance from $340.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.40.

Insider Activity

In other Reliance news, SVP William A. Smith II sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.71, for a total value of $2,091,115.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,420,491.79. This represents a 27.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Arthur Ajemyan sold 6,332 shares of Reliance stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.18, for a total value of $2,014,715.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,941,574.10. The trade was a 40.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,832 shares of company stock valued at $5,595,881. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Reliance Profile

Reliance, Inc operates as a diversified metal solutions provider and the metals service center company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company distributes a line of approximately 100,000 metal products, including alloy, aluminum, brass, copper, carbon steel, stainless steel, titanium, and specialty steel products; and provides metals processing services to general manufacturing, non-residential construction, transportation, aerospace, energy, electronics and semiconductor fabrication, and heavy industries.