Reliance (NYSE:RS) Reaches New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $327.12 and last traded at $326.61, with a volume of 18433 shares. The stock had previously closed at $325.44.

Reliance Stock Up 0.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 3.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.44, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $303.20 and a 200-day moving average of $289.36.

Reliance (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.66 by $0.11. Reliance had a net margin of 5.65% and a return on equity of 10.77%. The company had revenue of $3.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.30 EPS. Reliance's revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. Reliance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.41%.

Institutional Trading of Reliance

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Reliance by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,709,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $998,886,000 after buying an additional 319,576 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Reliance by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,479,542 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $398,381,000 after purchasing an additional 138,866 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Reliance by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,382,916 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $372,364,000 after purchasing an additional 185,873 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Reliance by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,021,900 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $295,052,000 after purchasing an additional 305,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Reliance in the fourth quarter worth $186,255,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company's stock.

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.