Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Buys 25,813 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 263,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,813 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in RLI were worth $43,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of RLI. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,827 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $468,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $928,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on RLI shares. StockNews.com raised RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Compass Point cut RLI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, RLI presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.60.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of RLI stock opened at $74.60 on Monday. RLI Corp. has a twelve month low of $68.50 and a twelve month high of $91.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. The business had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $442.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total value of $214,484.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. The trade was a 10.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $112,155.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $961,093.58. The trade was a 10.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.16% 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.