Sei Investments Co. Grows Stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 20.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 75,855 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,080 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in RLI were worth $12,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of RLI by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in RLI by 76.9% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in RLI by 2.3% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in RLI by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,827 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,633 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In related news, 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 owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of the business’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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774. Company insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

RLI Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of RLI stock opened at $79.99 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.63 and a 200 day moving average of $79.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38. RLI Corp. has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $91.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36 and a beta of 0.39.

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, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 0.75%. 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on RLI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price 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. Compass Point cut their price objective on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.