RLI Corp. $RLI Stock Holdings Decreased by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in RLI Corp. by 37.2%, selling 11,654 shares, leaving it with 19,657 shares valued at approximately $1.58 million.
• RLI recently reported better-than-expected earnings, with $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates of $0.75.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share, representing a 1.0% yield, with the ex-dividend date set for August 29th.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 37.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,657 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 11,654 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in RLI were worth $1,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in RLI by 95.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,996,643 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $722,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,388,400 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in RLI by 117.0% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,226,797 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $419,869,000 after purchasing an additional 2,817,616 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in RLI by 106.6% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,750,738 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $220,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,212 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. boosted its holdings in RLI by 100.0% in the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 2,394,544 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $192,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197,272 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in RLI by 97.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,861,984 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $149,569,000 after purchasing an additional 920,799 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other RLI news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak purchased 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $69.15 per share, with a total value of $207,450.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 98,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,807,817.50. The trade was a 3.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

RLI Stock Performance

NYSE:RLI traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $66.92. The stock had a trading volume of 465,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 458,892. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.71. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $65.14 and a 52 week high of $91.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

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

RLI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. RLI's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.