Caxton Associates LP Purchases Shares of 2,340 Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

Caxton Associates LP bought a new stake in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,340 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $630,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Reliance by 10.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 76,131 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $22,017,000 after buying an additional 7,373 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Reliance by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 112,065 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $32,909,000 after purchasing an additional 4,821 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Reliance by 19.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 472,730 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $136,718,000 after purchasing an additional 77,937 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Reliance by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Reliance in the 4th quarter valued at $302,000. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Reliance news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 31,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.52, for a total value of $9,356,990.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,115,919.60. This trade represents a 25.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Reliance from $321.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $319.00.

Reliance Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE RS traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $296.36. 176,021 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 397,754. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 3.21. The company has a market cap of $15.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $283.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.63. Reliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $250.07 and a 52 week high of $326.87.

Reliance (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.66 by $0.11. Reliance had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $3.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.30 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.98 EPS for the current year.

Reliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Reliance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.41%.

About Reliance

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.