National Bank of Canada FI Increases Stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 109.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,668 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,764 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in RLI were worth $3,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in RLI by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 372 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in RLI by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 396 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in RLI by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in RLI by 88.5% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of RLI by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 480 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In related news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $69.15 per share, with a total value of $207,450.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 98,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,807,817.50. The trade was a 3.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RLI. Compass Point lowered shares of RLI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.60.

RLI Price Performance

NYSE:RLI opened at $67.38 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.80. RLI Corp. has a 1-year low of $65.14 and a 1-year high of $91.14. The firm has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.09. RLI had a net margin of 17.81% and a return on equity of 15.82%. The firm had revenue of $562.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.34%.

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.