Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 23,405 Reliance, Inc. $RS

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 23,405 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,573,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in RS. Boston Partners raised its stake in Reliance by 72.6% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,763,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $552,461,000 after acquiring an additional 741,417 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Reliance by 2.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,090,657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $342,357,000 after purchasing an additional 26,545 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Reliance in the second quarter valued at about $207,741,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Reliance by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 626,890 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $196,781,000 after buying an additional 38,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Reliance by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 265,838 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,447,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Reliance Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of RS stock opened at $327.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.92. Reliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $250.07 and a 1 year high of $347.43. The company has a current ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $292.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $291.96.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Reliance had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.37%. Reliance’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on RS shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Reliance in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Reliance from $345.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Reliance from $340.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Reliance from $284.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Reliance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Reliance has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $317.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Stephen Paul Koch sold 3,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.56, for a total value of $869,394.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 14,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,975,794.76. The trade was a 17.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 5,809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.50, for a total value of $1,646,851.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 84,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,933,353.50. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Reliance Profile

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.