Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest in Reliance, Inc. rose by 29.7%, totaling 1,110,000 shares as of July 31st, indicating increased bearish sentiment among investors.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a miss on EPS estimates, posting $4.43 which is below the expected $4.72, alongside a slight revenue increase of 0.5% year-over-year.
• Reliance announced a quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share, reflecting a 1.7% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 35.04%.

Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,110,000 shares, anincreaseof29.7% from the July 15th total of 856,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 384,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently,2.1% of the company's shares are sold short. Currently,2.1% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 384,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on RS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Reliance to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Reliance from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $323.50.

Reliance Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Reliance stock traded up $1.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $295.44. 395,526 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 351,080. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.18 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Reliance has a 1-year low of $250.07 and a 1-year high of $347.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $307.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $296.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.89.

Reliance (NYSE:RS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $4.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.72 by ($0.29). Reliance had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.65 EPS. The firm's revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Reliance has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 3.600-3.800 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Reliance will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Reliance's payout ratio is 35.04%.

Institutional Trading of Reliance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its stake in Reliance by 138.9% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 86 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Reliance by 417.6% during the 2nd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 88 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Reliance during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Reliance in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Reliance by 46.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 139 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 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.