Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) Stock Position Lessened by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,577 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,774 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Reliance were worth $29,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Reliance during the 4th quarter worth about $451,000. DnB Asset Management AS increased its stake in shares of Reliance by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 12,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,283,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Reliance during the fourth quarter worth approximately $282,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Reliance in the fourth quarter worth approximately $133,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Reliance during the 4th quarter valued at $186,255,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Reliance in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $341.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research raised shares of Reliance from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Reliance from $321.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $329.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 31,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.52, for a total value of $9,356,990.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,230 shares in the company, valued at $27,115,919.60. This represents a 25.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Reliance Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of Reliance stock opened at $286.34 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 3.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Reliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $256.98 and a 12-month high of $342.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $289.01 and its 200-day moving average is $290.64.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.74 by ($0.52). Reliance had a return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 6.33%. The company had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Reliance Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Reliance’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio is 31.09%.

Reliance 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.