RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Shares Sold by Bridges Investment Management Inc.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 73.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,811 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,967 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in RLI were worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of RLI by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,393,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $680,866,000 after acquiring an additional 58,167 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of RLI by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 908,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $140,817,000 after acquiring an additional 50,654 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of RLI by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 813,719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $126,110,000 after acquiring an additional 4,330 shares during the period. Port Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of RLI by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Port Capital LLC now owns 759,988 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $117,783,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Finally, Maren Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of RLI by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Maren Capital LLC now owns 674,729 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $104,570,000 after acquiring an additional 27,940 shares during the period. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

RLI Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of RLI opened at $76.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 0.46. RLI Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $91.14.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. As a group, analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. RLI’s payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Activity

In other RLI news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total transaction of $33,910.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.