Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Sells 7,300 Shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. cut its position in shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 66.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,300 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in Reliance were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RS. Norges Bank bought a new position in Reliance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $186,255,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Reliance by 1,127.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 426,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $114,971,000 after purchasing an additional 392,213 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Reliance by 9.4% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 319,576 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Reliance by 53.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 725,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $195,402,000 after purchasing an additional 252,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Reliance Price Performance

NYSE:RS opened at $300.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43 and a beta of 0.91. Reliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $250.07 and a 1 year high of $326.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 3.21 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $0.11. Reliance had a return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 6.33%. The firm had revenue of $3.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.98 EPS for the current year.

Reliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Reliance’s payout ratio is 34.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Reliance from $321.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.00.

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.