Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,608,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,884 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of RLI worth $759,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of RLI in the third quarter valued at approximately $478,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in RLI by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of RLI by 172.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 53,921 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,357,000 after acquiring an additional 34,159 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of RLI by 144.7% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 4,630 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,738 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of RLI by 27.0% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 2,713 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on RLI shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point lowered their target price on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other RLI news, Director Michael E. Angelina acquired 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $72.62 per share, with a total value of $159,764.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 23,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,586.68. This trade represents a 10.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes bought 5,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at $9,931,206.50. The trade was a 3.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774 over the last quarter. 5.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLI opened at $79.99 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36 and a beta of 0.39. RLI Corp. has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 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 research analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. RLI’s payout ratio is presently 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.