BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 18,999 Shares of Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its holdings in Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) by 45.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,999 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Reliance were worth $6,560,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Reliance by 78.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 289,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,816,000 after buying an additional 127,422 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Reliance by 27,269.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 112,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,453,000 after acquiring an additional 111,803 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Reliance by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 472,730 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $136,718,000 after purchasing an additional 77,937 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Reliance by 68.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 139,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,391,000 after purchasing an additional 56,933 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Reliance by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,168,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $333,809,000 after purchasing an additional 53,747 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Reliance Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of RS opened at $319.70 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 3.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $299.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.77. The stock has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 0.85. Reliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $261.77 and a 12 month high of $342.20.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.66 by ($0.02). Reliance had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.00 EPS. Reliance’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Reliance, Inc. will post 16.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Reliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on RS shares. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Reliance from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Reliance in a report on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $341.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Reliance from $340.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Reliance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $328.83.

Insider Activity at Reliance

In other news, CFO Arthur Ajemyan sold 6,332 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.18, for a total transaction of $2,014,715.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,941,574.10. This represents a 40.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark V. Kaminski sold 5,000 shares of Reliance stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.01, for a total value of $1,490,050.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,832 shares of company stock valued at $5,595,881 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.