Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 7,609 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 941,185 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,609 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.03% of RLI worth $155,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of RLI by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 471,752 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,759,000 after purchasing an additional 9,131 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter worth $728,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter worth $17,854,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter valued at $840,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in RLI during the 4th quarter worth about $1,199,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on RLI. StockNews.com cut RLI from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of 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 reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, RLI presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.60.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RLI traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.84. 749,175 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 362,825. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $68.50 and a 52 week high of $91.15. The company's 50 day moving average price is $76.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.27.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $36.73 million during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 12,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $961,093.58. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

About RLI

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.