03:45 PM EDT, 04/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We decrease our 12-month target by $17 to $313, which assumes an EV/EBITDA of 10.0x our 2024 EBITDA estimate, at the upper end of the three-year range of RS's forward EV/EBITDA (4.5x-11.3x). Our DCF model shows significant upside (40%+) to RS's intrinsic value, but we are concerned about RS's relative valuation, trading at a 40% premium to peers on forward EV/EBITDA. We lower our 2024 EPS estimate by $1.44 to $19.79, but increase our 2024 EPS estimate by $1.89 to $21.08. RS posted Q1 adj. EPS of $5.30 vs. $6.37, $0.21 below consensus; Q1 revenue was down 8% Y/Y and missed consensus by 3%. During Q1, total tons sold fell 1.7% Y/Y (down 2.9% Y/Y organically) and the average selling price per ton fell 6.9% Y/Y to $2,442/ton. We anticipate a rebound in volume, with sequential growth in volume in Q2 of around 3%. We continue to be impressed with RS's resilient gross margin, which was 31.0% in Q1, up 10 basis points Y/Y. However, RS's premium valuation keeps us on the sidelines, as we see limited upside in 2024.