Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stock Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,730 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in RLI were worth $1,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of RLI by 0.8% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,879 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of RLI by 53.8% during 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 last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of RLI by 2.6% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,723 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of RLI by 0.9% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of RLI by 76.9% during 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other RLI news, insider Jeffrey D. Fick bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $72.13 per share, for a total transaction of $144,260.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 142,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,246,859.93. This represents a 1.43 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774. Corporate insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point decreased their target price on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.80.

RLI Trading Up 1.4 %

RLI stock opened at $75.91 on Wednesday. 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 Corp. has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $91.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.32. The firm has a market cap of $6.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27 and a beta of 0.46.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released 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 return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. Analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

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

RLI 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.