RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Shares Sold by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 70.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,750 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 80,294 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in RLI were worth $5,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in RLI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of RLI by 47.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter worth $108,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter worth about $120,000. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point downgraded RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.60.

RLI Stock Down 0.7%

RLI stock traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $75.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 360,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 363,400. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. RLI Corp. has a 12 month low of $68.50 and a 12 month high of $91.15. The company has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20 and a beta of 0.72. The firm's 50-day moving average is $76.12 and its 200-day moving average is $78.82.

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. The firm had revenue of $36.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $442.20 million. RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $961,093.58. This represents a 10.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total value of $214,484.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,745,835.68. The trade was a 10.94% decrease in their position. 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.