Royce & Associates LP Lowers Stock Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,550 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 9,043 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.13% of RLI worth $18,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 0.8% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,879 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,221,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in RLI by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in RLI by 2.6% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,723 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in RLI by 76.9% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in RLI by 2.3% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In related news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes acquired 5,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were acquired 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 $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on RLI shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.80.

RLI Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE RLI opened at $75.74 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $91.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $75.58 and its 200 day moving average is $79.38. The company has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 0.39.

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

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. 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 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. RLI’s payout ratio is presently 16.00%.

About RLI

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.