Erste Asset Management GmbH Grows Stock Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 23.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,514 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,881 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH owned 0.05% of RLI worth $7,698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of RLI by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 471,752 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,759,000 after buying an additional 9,131 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter valued at about $728,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter valued at about $840,000. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,199,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of RLI by 147.2% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 14,917 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,459,000 after buying an additional 8,883 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other RLI news, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $112,155.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,854 shares in the company, valued at $961,093.58. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. The trade was a 3.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.09% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RLI. Compass Point reduced their price objective on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 research note on Monday, January 27th. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $82.80.

RLI Stock Down 0.8 %

RLI traded down $0.61 on Tuesday, hitting $76.01. The company had a trading volume of 288,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 323,467. 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 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $91.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 0.39.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

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

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.