Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) Stock Position Cut by Yacktman Asset Management LP

Yacktman Asset Management LP reduced its holdings in shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,211,704 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 18,813 shares during the period. Reliance accounts for approximately 3.2% of Yacktman Asset Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Yacktman Asset Management LP owned approximately 2.11% of Reliance worth $338,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Reliance in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Reliance in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its position in Reliance by 183.6% in the 3rd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 207 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Reliance by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 230 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Reliance by 187.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 285 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Reliance from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $280.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Reliance from $355.00 to $345.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Reliance from $300.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $362.33.

Insider Activity at Reliance

In related news, Director James Donald Hoffman sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.95, for a total value of $12,918,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,042 shares in the company, valued at $17,452,863.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Reliance news, Director James Donald Hoffman sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.95, for a total transaction of $12,918,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,042 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,452,863.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 42,346 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.97, for a total transaction of $13,507,103.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,963,809.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 85,996 shares of company stock worth $27,603,878. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Reliance Stock Performance

Shares of Reliance stock traded down $1.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $290.42. 488,495 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 248,402. Reliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $229.12 and a 12 month high of $342.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $324.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $291.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 5.66. The company has a market capitalization of $16.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.87.

Reliance (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.51 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Reliance had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 9.02%. Reliance's quarterly revenue was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Reliance, Inc. will post 19.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Reliance's payout ratio is 19.46%.

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.