RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Shares Purchased by Whittier Trust Co.

Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,816 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,236 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. owned approximately 0.10% of RLI worth $14,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RLI. KBC Group NV lifted 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 acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 2.6% in the 3rd 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. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of RLI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $203,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,868 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 2,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 264,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,959,000 after purchasing an additional 25,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of RLI stock opened at $75.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.39. 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 fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $91.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $75.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.34.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (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, analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. This 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of RLI stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RLI. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point dropped their target price 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 issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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.