Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,288 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of RLI worth $7,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of RLI by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,879 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of RLI by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of RLI by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,723 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of RLI by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of RLI by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on RLI. Compass Point dropped their target price on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, RLI has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.80.

RLI Trading Up 0.9 %

RLI stock opened at $76.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50-day moving average is $75.43 and its 200 day moving average is $79.32. RLI Corp. has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $91.15. 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, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. RLI’s payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In related news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of RLI stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total transaction of $112,155.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,093.58. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

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.