Neuberger Berman Group LLC Purchases 19,695 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,331,526 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,695 shares during the quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC owned 1.45% of RLI worth $219,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in RLI by 76.9% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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

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

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Insider Activity at RLI

In other RLI news, Director Michael E. Angelina purchased 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $72.62 per share, for a total transaction of $159,764.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 23,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,707,586.68. This represents a 10.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,312 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. 5.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

RLI Trading Up 0.3 %

RLI stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.99. 72,338 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 357,360. RLI Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $91.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83 and a beta of 0.49. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $76.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.47.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

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

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.