By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI – Free Report) by 61.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in RLI were worth $433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of RLI. Nepsis Inc. increased its position in shares of RLI by 138.8% during the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 296,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,876,000 after purchasing an additional 172,370 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in RLI during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,854,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in RLI in the third quarter valued at about $9,458,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in RLI by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,393,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $680,866,000 after acquiring an additional 58,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter valued at about $8,739,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity at RLI
In other news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,745,835.68. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774. 4.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
RLI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Compass Point lowered their target price on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.80.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on RLI
RLI Stock Performance
NYSE RLI opened at $76.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.34. RLI Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $91.15.
RLI (NYSE:RLI – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. On average, equities analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.
RLI Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is 16.00%.
RLI Profile
RLI Corp., an insurance holding company, underwrites property and casualty insurance. Its Casualty segment provides commercial and personal coverage products; and general liability products, such as coverage for third-party liability of commercial insureds, including manufacturers, contractors, apartments, and mercantile.
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