Yacktman Asset Management LP Lowers Holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

Yacktman Asset Management LP cut its stake in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,211,704 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,813 shares during the quarter. Reliance accounts for about 3.2% of Yacktman Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Yacktman Asset Management LP owned 2.11% of Reliance worth $338,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in Reliance in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Reliance in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Reliance by 183.6% in the third quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Reliance by 26.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Reliance by 187.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Reliance Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RS traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $293.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 302,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,408. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 5.66 and a quick ratio of 3.23. Reliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $229.12 and a 52 week high of $342.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $325.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $291.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.87.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.51 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Reliance had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 9.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Reliance, Inc. will post 19.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Reliance’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup cut shares of Reliance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $280.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Reliance from $300.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Reliance from $355.00 to $345.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Arthur Ajemyan sold 3,000 shares of Reliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.95, for a total transaction of $968,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,030,592.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Arthur Ajemyan sold 3,000 shares of Reliance stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.95, for a total value of $968,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,577 shares in the company, valued at $5,030,592.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 42,346 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.97, for a total transaction of $13,507,103.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,534 shares in the company, valued at $26,963,809.98. 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 90 days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.