Reliance (NYSE:RS) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $313.56, but opened at $295.41. Reliance shares last traded at $285.52, with a volume of 141,154 shares changing hands.

The industrial products company reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.48 by ($0.18). Reliance had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 9.02%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.37 EPS. Reliance’s revenue was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Reliance Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This is a positive change from Reliance’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Reliance from $300.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup downgraded Reliance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $280.00 to $380.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Reliance from $295.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Reliance has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James Donald Hoffman sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.95, for a total transaction of $12,918,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,452,863.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director James Donald Hoffman sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.95, for a total value of $12,918,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,452,863.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.96, for a total value of $209,924.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 83,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,091,176.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,996 shares of company stock valued at $27,603,878 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Reliance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Reliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $186,693,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Reliance by 35.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 723,755 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $189,790,000 after purchasing an additional 189,326 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Reliance by 68.6% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 193,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,699,000 after purchasing an additional 78,699 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Reliance by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 286,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,226,000 after acquiring an additional 65,691 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Reliance by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 885,818 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $247,746,000 after acquiring an additional 64,895 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Reliance Trading Down 9.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $16.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $325.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.25. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 5.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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.