Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 7,076 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Baird Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,311 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,076 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in RLI were worth $5,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 2.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $728,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,854,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter valued at $840,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter valued at $1,199,000. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RLI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Compass Point cut RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.60.

RLI Trading Up 0.4 %

RLI stock opened at $74.60 on Friday. RLI Corp. has a 12 month low of $68.50 and a 12 month high of $91.15. 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 business's fifty day simple moving average is $76.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.96. The company has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 0.72.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. RLI's revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share 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 $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI's payout ratio is currently 19.74%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $112,155.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $961,093.58. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the business'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 transaction of $214,484.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares of the company's stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

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.

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