Meritage Portfolio Management Cuts Holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

Meritage Portfolio Management lowered its holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 740 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management owned 0.05% of Reliance worth $8,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of RS. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Reliance in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Reliance by 27.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Reliance by 17.9% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Reliance in the first quarter worth approximately $86,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Reliance in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $117,000. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Reliance Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RS traded down $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $320.62. The company had a trading volume of 287,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 315,138. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 3.31. Reliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $261.77 and a 12 month high of $342.20.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.66 by ($0.02). Reliance had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Reliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Reliance news, SVP William A. Smith II sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.71, for a total value of $2,091,115.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,849 shares in the company, valued at $5,420,491.79. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Arthur Ajemyan sold 6,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.18, for a total transaction of $2,014,715.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,941,574.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP William A. Smith II sold 6,500 shares of Reliance stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.71, for a total transaction of $2,091,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,420,491.79. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,832 shares of company stock worth $5,595,881 in the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RS. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Reliance from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Reliance from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $262.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Reliance from $340.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Reliance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $326.40.

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.