Reliance (NYSE:RS) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $313.56, but opened at $295.41. Reliance shares last traded at $285.52, with a volume of 141,154 shares changing hands.

The industrial products company reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.51 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Reliance had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.37 EPS.

Reliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RS. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Reliance from $300.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Reliance from $355.00 to $345.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Citigroup downgraded shares of Reliance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $280.00 to $380.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Reliance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $362.33.

Insider Activity at Reliance

In other news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 42,346 shares of Reliance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.97, for a total transaction of $13,507,103.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,534 shares in the company, valued at $26,963,809.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 42,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.97, for a total value of $13,507,103.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,534 shares in the company, valued at $26,963,809.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.96, for a total transaction of $209,924.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 83,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,091,176.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 85,996 shares of company stock valued at $27,603,878. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Reliance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Reliance in the first quarter worth $25,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Reliance in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in Reliance in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Reliance in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Reliance during the first quarter worth about $49,000. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Reliance Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 5.66 and a quick ratio of 3.23. The company has a market cap of $16.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $324.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.41.

Reliance Company 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.