RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Short Interest Update

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,480,000 shares, a growth of 28.7% from the February 13th total of 1,150,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 476,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point reduced 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $82.80.

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RLI Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE RLI traded down $0.09 on Friday, hitting $76.05. 127,775 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 324,511. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $75.43 and a 200 day moving average of $79.32. The company has a market capitalization of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.33 and a beta of 0.39. RLI has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $91.15.

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

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. RLI's dividend payout ratio is presently 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 the business's 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 sale, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. 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. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of RLI

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,476,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in RLI by 580.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 415,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $68,445,000 after acquiring an additional 354,219 shares during the period. Nepsis Inc. increased its position in RLI by 138.8% in the 4th quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 296,526 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $48,876,000 after acquiring an additional 172,370 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in RLI by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $168,907,000 after acquiring an additional 116,088 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,854,000. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.