D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Sells 80,294 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 70.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,750 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 80,294 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in RLI were worth $5,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $208,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in RLI by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,827 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in RLI during the 4th quarter worth $204,000. Burney Co. acquired a new stake in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter worth $394,000. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,875 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other RLI news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the company'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 transaction, the director now owns 12,854 shares in the company, valued at $961,093.58. This represents a 10.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

RLI Price Performance

RLI stock traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $73.43. 30,818 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 363,340. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $68.50 and a 52 week high of $91.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.76. 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 $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60 and a beta of 0.72.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. The business had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. RLI's quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This is a positive change from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. RLI's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on RLI shares. Compass Point cut shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target 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. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.60.

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.