Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $1 Million Stock Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 92.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,066 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,911 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in RLI were worth $1,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter valued at about $80,476,000. Nepsis Inc. increased its stake in RLI by 138.8% during the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 296,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,876,000 after acquiring an additional 172,370 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,854,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of RLI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,458,000. Finally, ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,739,000. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

RLI Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of RLI opened at $76.44 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.44. 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 one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $91.15. The company has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41 and a beta of 0.49.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. RLI’s payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes acquired 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at $9,931,206.50. This trade represents 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total value of $214,484.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,745,835.68. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, 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 brokerages recently commented on RLI. Compass Point cut their target price on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of 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 research note on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.80.

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.