Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Trims Stock Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL decreased its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 151,713 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,087 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL owned 0.17% of RLI worth $25,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in RLI by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in RLI by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in RLI by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of RLI by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,221 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RLI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point dropped their target price on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price 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 research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.80.

Insider Activity at RLI

In other RLI news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total value of $33,910.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 429,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,421,205.05. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael E. Angelina purchased 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $72.62 per share, for a total transaction of $159,764.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,707,586.68. This trade represents a 10.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. 5.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

RLI Stock Up 0.5 %

RLI stock opened at $74.89 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $77.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.29. 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 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 analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. RLI’s dividend 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.