Xponance Inc. Increases Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,909 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in RLI were worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake 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 buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 76.9% in 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 in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in RLI by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Price Performance

RLI opened at $77.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.35. The firm has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69 and a beta of 0.39. RLI Corp. has a 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year 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 (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%. As a group, analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is 16.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other RLI news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at $9,931,206.50. The trade was a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total value of $214,484.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,745,835.68. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have acquired 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774 over the last ninety days. 5.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on RLI shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Compass Point reduced their price objective on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.80.

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.