Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) Shares Sold by Achmea Investment Management B.V.

Achmea Investment Management B.V. decreased its holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 79.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 37,779 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Reliance were worth $2,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RS. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Reliance by 6,311.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 816,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $219,841,000 after purchasing an additional 803,730 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Reliance by 53.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 725,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $195,402,000 after acquiring an additional 252,955 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Reliance during the 4th quarter worth about $46,979,000. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Reliance during the 4th quarter worth about $21,015,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Reliance during the 4th quarter worth about $20,640,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 31,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,115,919.60. This trade 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 can be accessed through this link. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Reliance Price Performance

Shares of Reliance stock opened at $283.15 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $256.98 and a twelve month high of $342.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $286.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.85. The firm has a market cap of $15.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34 and a beta of 0.87.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.74 by ($0.52). Reliance had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This is a positive change from Reliance’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Reliance’s payout ratio is 31.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.