Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases Shares of 7,385 RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,385 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,217,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RLI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,608,243 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $759,577,000 after purchasing an additional 41,884 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in RLI by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $168,907,000 after buying an additional 116,088 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of RLI by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 490,725 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $80,886,000 after buying an additional 18,199 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter worth about $80,476,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of RLI by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 471,752 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $77,759,000 after acquiring an additional 9,131 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLI Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE RLI traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $78.16. 46,724 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 505,083. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87 and a beta of 0.49. The company's 50 day moving average price is $76.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.45. RLI Corp. has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $91.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Compass Point reduced their price target on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.80.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other RLI news, Director Michael E. Angelina acquired 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $72.62 per share, for a total transaction of $159,764.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 23,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,707,586.68. This trade represents a 10.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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. In the last three months, insiders purchased 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. Corporate insiders own 5.09% of the company's stock.

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.