Independent Advisor Alliance Has $2.95 Million Stock Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,871 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in RLI were worth $2,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of RLI. Nepsis Inc. grew its holdings in RLI by 138.8% in the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 296,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,876,000 after purchasing an additional 172,370 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter worth $17,854,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in RLI in the third quarter worth $9,931,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in RLI in the third quarter worth $9,458,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in RLI by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,393,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $680,866,000 after purchasing an additional 58,167 shares during the period. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RLI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of 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 report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point reduced their price objective on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.80.

RLI Stock Down 0.7 %

RLI opened at $73.96 on Thursday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $75.84 and its 200 day moving average is $79.37. RLI Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $91.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75 and a beta of 0.39.

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

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.00%.

Insider Activity at RLI

In related news, Director David B. Duclos acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $72.50 per share, with a total value of $145,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $523,087.50. The trade was a 38.35 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

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.