Franklin Resources Inc. Invests $3.83 Million in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 23,235 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,830,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in RLI in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in RLI by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in RLI by 76.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in RLI by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

RLI Trading Down 0.2 %

RLI stock traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 260,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,090. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $76.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.47. RLI Corp. has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $91.15. The stock has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

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RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last released 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on RLI shares. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point dropped their price objective on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, RLI has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.80.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other RLI news, Director David B. Duclos purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $72.50 per share, with a total value of $145,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,215 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $523,087.50. This trade represents a 38.35 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 price of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774. Insiders own 5.09% of the company's stock.

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.