Bailard Inc. Acquires New Position in Reliance, Inc. $RS

Key Points

• Bailard Inc. opened a new position in Reliance, buying 4,540 shares worth about $1.31 million in the fourth quarter.
• Reliance recently posted better-than-expected earnings, with Q1 EPS of $5.16 versus estimates of $4.63 and revenue of $4.03 billion, up 15.1% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, payable June 5, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $344.67.

Bailard Inc. bought a new position in shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,540 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,311,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Reliance by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,597,755 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $729,528,000 after buying an additional 166,214 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Reliance by 27.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,247,603 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $631,224,000 after buying an additional 484,286 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Reliance by 25.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,708,756 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $479,870,000 after buying an additional 343,598 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Reliance by 4.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,142,551 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $320,863,000 after buying an additional 51,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Reliance by 4.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 755,756 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $212,243,000 after buying an additional 30,765 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on RS shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Reliance from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Reliance from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America lowered shares of Reliance from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Reliance from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners boosted their target price on shares of Reliance from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $344.67.

Reliance Price Performance

Reliance stock opened at $369.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 4.39. Reliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.31 and a 1 year high of $381.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $323.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $309.90. The company has a market cap of $18.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.95.

Reliance (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.63 by $0.53. Reliance had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The company had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.77 earnings per share. Reliance's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Reliance has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 5.150-5.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Reliance, Inc. will post 18.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Reliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. Reliance's payout ratio is presently 32.62%.

Insider Transactions at Reliance

In related news, COO Stephen Paul Koch sold 24,060 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.62, for a total value of $7,738,177.20. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,021 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,509,434.02. This represents a 63.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Arthur Ajemyan sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.12, for a total transaction of $1,253,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,840 shares in the company, valued at $6,030,740.80. This represents a 17.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,175 shares of company stock valued at $10,966,902. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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