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

Reliance (NYSE:RS) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Reliance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Reliance from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $340.00 to $330.00 in a research note on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Reliance in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Reliance from $287.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Reliance in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $321.67.

Reliance Price Performance

RS opened at $315.25 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $320.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.21. The company has a current ratio of 4.88, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Reliance has a 1 year low of $250.07 and a 1 year high of $365.59. The stock has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.92.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by ($0.40). The firm had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. Reliance had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 5.17%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. Reliance has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.500-4.70 EPS. Analysts forecast that Reliance will post 16.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Karla R. Lewis sold 5,809 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.50, for a total transaction of $1,646,851.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 84,421 shares in the company, valued at $23,933,353.50. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Stephen Paul Koch sold 24,060 shares of Reliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.62, for a total value of $7,738,177.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,509,434.02. This represents a 63.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,935 shares of company stock worth $10,254,424. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Reliance

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RS. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Reliance by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,715,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $784,503,000 after acquiring an additional 118,009 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Reliance by 27.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,247,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $631,224,000 after purchasing an additional 484,286 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Reliance by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,708,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $479,870,000 after purchasing an additional 343,598 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Reliance by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,142,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $320,863,000 after buying an additional 51,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Reliance by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 938,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $270,349,000 after buying an additional 2,549 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.