Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 139.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,518 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in RLI were worth $995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RLI. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in RLI by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased 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 during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of RLI by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RLI. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.80.

RLI Price Performance

RLI stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $77.76. 388,763 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 359,116. 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 12-month low of $68.05 and a 12-month high of $91.15. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $76.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.44. The company has a market capitalization of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 0.49.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. Analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI's payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Activity at RLI

In other news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. The trade was a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of RLI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total value of $214,484.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares in the company, 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 ninety days, insiders acquired 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774. 2.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.