RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Director Purchases $145,000.00 in Stock

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Director David B. Duclos bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $72.50 per share, with a total value of $145,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $523,087.50. The trade was a 38.35 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

RLI Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:RLI traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $72.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 20,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 569,410. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 0.47. RLI Corp. has a twelve month low of $67.04 and a twelve month high of $91.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $82.12 and a 200 day moving average of $78.95.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.38% and a net margin of 19.53%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a None dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $2.145 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.49%.

Institutional Trading of RLI

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of RLI by 0.8% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,879 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of RLI by 1.2% in the third quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 5,757 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of RLI by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of RLI by 2.6% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of RLI by 0.9% in the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on RLI. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point decreased their price target on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.80.

RLI Company 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.