Norges Bank Takes $80.48 Million Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 488,235 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $80,476,000. Norges Bank owned 0.53% of RLI at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in RLI during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in RLI by 47.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In related news, insider Jeffrey D. Fick acquired 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $72.13 per share, with a total value of $144,260.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 142,061 shares in the company, valued at $10,246,859.93. The trade was a 1.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,745,835.68. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774. Company insiders own 5.09% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on RLI. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Compass Point lowered their price target on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, RLI has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $82.80.

RLI Price Performance

RLI stock traded down $4.33 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $72.38. 844,804 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 353,082. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $91.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.33 and a beta of 0.49.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. As a group, analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is an increase from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.00%.

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.