Donaldson Capital Management LLC Buys 1,978 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,978 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in RLI were worth $4,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in RLI by 8.5% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,380 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,454,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in RLI by 46.2% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,072 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in RLI by 22.5% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 113,651 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,614,000 after acquiring an additional 20,905 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its position in RLI by 118.3% in the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 5,679 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in RLI by 1.8% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 120,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $18,706,000 after acquiring an additional 2,157 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLI opened at $75.39 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.16 and a 200 day moving average of $79.41. The stock has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13 and a beta of 0.39. RLI Corp. has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $91.14. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 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 forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI’s payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Activity at RLI

In related news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. This represents a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey D. Fick purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $72.13 per share, with a total value of $144,260.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 142,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,246,859.93. This represents a 1.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. Corporate insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on RLI. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of 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 research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, RLI presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.80.

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.