Swiss National Bank Reduces Position in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 183,200 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.32% of Reliance worth $51,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in RS. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Reliance by 113.0% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $447,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Reliance by 46.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,057 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,637,000 after purchasing an additional 3,194 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Reliance by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 7,038 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,796,000 after buying an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Reliance by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 320,077 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $83,934,000 after buying an additional 31,205 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Reliance by 47.5% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 2,985 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James Donald Hoffman sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.77, for a total transaction of $1,463,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 39,042 shares in the company, valued at $11,430,326.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Reliance news, Director James Donald Hoffman sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.77, for a total value of $1,463,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 39,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,430,326.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 42,346 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.97, for a total value of $13,507,103.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,963,809.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,996 shares of company stock worth $31,966,978 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Reliance Trading Up 1.1 %

RS traded up $3.25 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $295.41. 438,149 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 256,546. The company has a quick ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 5.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock's 50-day moving average is $319.77 and its 200 day moving average is $293.74. Reliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $229.12 and a 12 month high of $342.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.97 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.92.

Reliance (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.51 by ($0.21). Reliance had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 16.26%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.37 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Reliance, Inc. will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Reliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Reliance's payout ratio is presently 20.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on RS. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Reliance from $355.00 to $345.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Reliance from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup lowered shares of Reliance from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $280.00 to $380.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Reliance from $300.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th.

Reliance Company 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.