Reliance (NYSE:RS) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy”

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Reliance (NYSE:RS) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on RS. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Reliance from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Reliance from $398.00 to $391.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Reliance in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Reliance from $378.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Reliance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Reliance has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $377.50.

Reliance Stock Performance

RS opened at $383.76 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.96. Reliance has a 52-week low of $260.31 and a 52-week high of $433.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 4.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $396.85 and its 200-day moving average is $362.52.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $6.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by $0.80. Reliance had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 5.65%.The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.43 earnings per share. Reliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Reliance has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 6.400-6.600 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Reliance will post 22.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.07%.

Insider Activity at Reliance

In related news, SVP William A. Smith II sold 2,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.21, for a total transaction of $974,636.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,394 shares in the company, valued at $8,033,188.74. This represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Arthur Ajemyan sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.11, for a total transaction of $902,242.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,004,010.40. The trade was a 13.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Reliance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. XXEC Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Reliance during the second quarter valued at about $127,493,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Reliance by 20,857.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 32,965,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,315,852,000 after buying an additional 32,808,048 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Reliance in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,171,081,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Reliance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $207,691,000. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in Reliance by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,247,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $631,224,000 after buying an additional 484,286 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

About Reliance

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co (NYSE: RS) is a leading metals service center company that distributes and processes a broad array of metal products. The company offers cut-to-length, shearing, blanking, sawing, bending, machining and value-added services for carbon and alloy steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass, titanium and specialty metal alloys. Its products serve diverse end markets, including energy, infrastructure, general manufacturing, transportation, aerospace and defense.

Founded in 1939 in Los Angeles, Reliance Steel & Aluminum has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions.