Savant Capital LLC Buys 1,773 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Savant Capital LLC increased its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,773 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in RLI were worth $1,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in RLI during the 4th quarter valued at $2,542,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter valued at $840,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in RLI by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in RLI in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new position in RLI during the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of RLI from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.80.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RLI opened at $76.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 0.46. RLI Corp. has a 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year high of $91.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its quarterly 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total transaction of $33,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 429,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,421,205.05. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David B. Duclos purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $72.50 per share, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 7,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $523,087.50. This represents a 38.35 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. Corporate insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

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.