Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 342,429 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 56,466 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.37% of RLI worth $56,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,393,250 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $680,866,000 after buying an additional 58,167 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of RLI by 5.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 908,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $140,817,000 after acquiring an additional 50,654 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 813,719 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $126,110,000 after acquiring an additional 4,330 shares during the last quarter. Port Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of RLI by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Port Capital LLC now owns 759,988 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $117,783,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maren Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of RLI by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Maren Capital LLC now owns 674,729 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $104,570,000 after purchasing an additional 27,940 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on RLI. Compass Point lowered their price target on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RLI currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $82.80.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI stock traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $76.04. The company had a trading volume of 413,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 540,602. The firm has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.39. RLI Corp. has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $91.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.34.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.00%.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In related news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total value of $33,910.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 429,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,421,205.05. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 three months, insiders have bought 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.