Stephen Paul Koch Sells 24,060 Shares of Reliance (NYSE:RS) Stock

Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) COO Stephen Paul Koch sold 24,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,509,434.02. This represents a 63.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Stephen Paul Koch also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 1st, Stephen Paul Koch sold 3,066 shares of Reliance stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.56, for a total transaction of $869,394.96.

Reliance Stock Performance

Shares of RS opened at $315.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.88, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $319.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $295.92. Reliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $250.07 and a 12 month high of $365.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Reliance Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from Reliance’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Reliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.36%.

Trending Headlines about Reliance

Here are the key news stories impacting Reliance this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reliance raised its quarterly dividend to $1.25 (annualized $5.00), ex-dividend March 6 and payable March 20 — a shareholder-friendly action that supports income investors and helps underpin the share price. Dividend & company summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Reliance presented at the 35th BMO Global Metals, Mining & Critical Minerals Conference — investor presentations can improve visibility and help management relay strategy, but by themselves are neutral until new guidance or deals emerge. Conference transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s subsidiary acquiring 30% of “REIL” in a Rs 853 crore share allotment was reported — this deal relates to Indian entities using the “Reliance” name and is not tied to U.S.-listed Reliance Steel & Aluminum (RS); it may generate headlines but is unlikely to affect RS fundamentals. Meta/REIL article
• Neutral Sentiment: Reliance Chemo (an India-listed business) reported December quarter sales down ~11% YoY — relevant to investors tracking similarly named Indian affiliates but not to RS’s U.S. metals-distribution operations. News may create short-term headline noise. Reliance Chemo sales
• Negative Sentiment: COO Stephen Paul Koch sold 24,060 RS shares (approx. $7.7M) on Feb 23, reducing his stake by ~63%. Large insider sales often spook short-term traders and can pressure the stock, especially when combined with recent analyst downgrades and an earnings miss. Insider sale disclosure
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple Indian reports say the Enforcement Directorate provisionally attached Anil Ambani’s Mumbai residence over alleged bank frauds tied to Reliance Communications. These stories concern a different corporate group (Anil Ambani’s Reliance) and not Reliance Steel & Aluminum, but they can create market confusion or headline-driven volatility for the “Reliance” ticker name. ED attachment (The Week) ED seizure (New Indian Express)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on RS shares. Zacks Research raised Reliance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered Reliance from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $340.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Reliance from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Reliance from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $340.00 to $330.00 in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Reliance from $287.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $321.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Reliance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Reliance by 72.6% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,763,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $552,461,000 after acquiring an additional 741,417 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Reliance during the fourth quarter valued at about $207,691,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Reliance by 899.4% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 733,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $205,997,000 after purchasing an additional 660,128 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Reliance by 25.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,708,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $479,870,000 after purchasing an additional 343,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Reliance by 1,018.9% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 341,827 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $98,744,000 after purchasing an additional 311,276 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Reliance Company 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.