RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Shares Sold by Chatham Capital Group Inc.

Chatham Capital Group Inc. lowered its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,563 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. Chatham Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in RLI were worth $2,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of RLI by 76.9% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of RLI by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE RLI opened at $75.69 on Friday. RLI Corp. has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $91.14. The stock has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $76.44 and a 200 day moving average of $79.34.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is 16.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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 downgraded shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RLI presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jeffrey D. Fick purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $72.13 per share, with a total value of $144,260.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 142,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,246,859.93. This represents a 1.43 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total transaction of $33,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 429,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,421,205.05. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.09% 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.