RLI Corp. $RLI Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 311.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 688,318 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 521,096 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.75% of RLI worth $39,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in RLI by 94.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in RLI by 156.4% in the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of RLI by 85.9% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 684 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLI during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on RLI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on RLI from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings cut RLI from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded RLI from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on RLI from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded RLI from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, RLI presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.50.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other news, Director David B. Duclos bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $51.99 per share, for a total transaction of $129,975.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $508,462.20. The trade was a 34.34% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $52.00 per share, with a total value of $104,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 150,990 shares in the company, valued at $7,851,480. This trade represents a 1.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought a total of 16,500 shares of company stock worth $858,955 over the last quarter. 2.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

RLI Stock Performance

NYSE:RLI opened at $64.07 on Tuesday. RLI Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $47.26 and a fifty-two week high of $69.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 0.38.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.11. RLI had a return on equity of 17.61% and a net margin of 22.22%.The company had revenue of $575.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. RLI’s payout ratio is presently 15.13%.

RLI Profile

RLI Corporation (NYSE:RLI) is a specialty property and casualty insurance company focused on underwriting niche risks for businesses and individuals. Headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, the company operates through a network of independent agents and brokers, offering customized coverage solutions. RLI’s approach emphasizes disciplined underwriting, targeted product development and strong customer service to maintain profitability and long-term growth.

Founded in 1965 as Replacement Lens, Inc, RLI initially provided insurance for contact lens manufacturers before shifting its focus to specialty insurance in the 1980s.