Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 268,139 Shares of Reliance, Inc. $RS

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management dramatically increased its Reliance stake in Q4, buying 268,139 additional shares and lifting its holdings to 274,206 shares worth about $79.2 million.
• Reliance reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $5.16 topping estimates and revenue rising 15.1% year over year to $4.03 billion. The company also issued Q2 2026 guidance of $5.15 to $5.35 EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, equal to $5.00 annualized and a 1.4% yield, while several insiders and institutional investors have been active in the stock.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS - Free Report) by 4,419.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 274,206 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 268,139 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned about 0.52% of Reliance worth $79,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Reliance during the third quarter worth about $1,576,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Reliance during the fourth quarter worth about $10,297,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Reliance by 4.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 755,756 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $212,243,000 after purchasing an additional 30,765 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in Reliance during the third quarter worth about $873,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Reliance by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,284 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,015,000 after purchasing an additional 4,817 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Reliance from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Reliance from $323.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Reliance from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Reliance from $341.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners upped their target price on shares of Reliance from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $344.67.

Reliance Stock Down 0.1%

RS stock opened at $361.35 on Monday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $325.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $311.13. 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 fifty-two week low of $260.31 and a fifty-two week high of $381.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Reliance Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Reliance

In related news, SVP William A. Smith II sold 6,615 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.61, for a total value of $1,975,305.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 21,747 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,493,871.67. This represents a 23.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Arthur Ajemyan sold 3,500 shares of Reliance stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.12, for a total value of $1,253,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 16,840 shares in the company, valued at $6,030,740.80. This trade represents a 17.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 34,175 shares of company stock valued at $10,966,902 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Reliance

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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