Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Grows Position in RLI Corp. $RLI

Key Points

• Ausbil Investment Management Ltd significantly increased its position in RLI Corp. by 96.3% in the second quarter, owning 21,283 shares valued at approximately $1.5 million.
• Other institutional investors have also raised their stakes in RLI, with multiple firms like Golden State Wealth Management increasing holdings by 100% in Q1.
• RLI recently posted earnings that exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting an EPS of $0.84 against a consensus of $0.75, contributing to a 20% year-over-year revenue increase.

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 96.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,283 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 10,441 shares during the quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd's holdings in RLI were worth $1,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 100.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 372 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 100.0% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 396 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 100.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 88.5% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 100.0% in the first quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 480 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.60.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak acquired 3,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $69.15 per share, with a total value of $207,450.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 98,450 shares in the company, valued at $6,807,817.50. This trade represents a 3.14% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

RLI Stock Up 1.3%

RLI stock opened at $64.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. RLI Corp. has a 1-year low of $63.92 and a 1-year high of $91.14. The company has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $66.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.96.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.09. RLI had a return on equity of 15.82% and a net margin of 17.81%.The firm had revenue of $562.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. RLI's payout ratio is currently 18.34%.

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.

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