108,318 Shares in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 108,318 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $17,854,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of RLI. State Street Corp grew its holdings in RLI by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,393,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $680,866,000 after buying an additional 58,167 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in RLI by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 908,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $140,817,000 after buying an additional 50,654 shares during the last quarter. Port Capital LLC grew its holdings in RLI by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Port Capital LLC now owns 759,988 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $117,783,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Maren Capital LLC grew its holdings in RLI by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Maren Capital LLC now owns 674,729 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $104,570,000 after buying an additional 27,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in RLI by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 471,752 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,759,000 after buying an additional 9,131 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was purchased 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 owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $112,155.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $961,093.58. This represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.80.

RLI Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of RLI stock opened at $76.67 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.47 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $75.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.38. RLI Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $91.15.

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%. Analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.00%.

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.