Commerce Bank Acquires 4,104 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 96.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,363 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 4,104 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank's holdings in RLI were worth $672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of RLI. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in RLI by 100.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in RLI by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,331,526 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $219,475,000 after acquiring an additional 19,695 shares in the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its position in RLI by 104.3% during the first quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,075,321 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $86,381,000 after purchasing an additional 549,042 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,185 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $155,136,000 after acquiring an additional 7,609 shares during the period. Finally, Port Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of RLI by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Port Capital LLC now owns 766,668 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $126,370,000 after purchasing an additional 6,680 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

RLI Stock Performance

NYSE:RLI traded down $1.37 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $66.65. The stock had a trading volume of 411,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 848,406. RLI Corp. has a 12-month low of $65.14 and a 12-month high of $91.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.07. The stock has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $562.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $445.55 million. RLI had a return on equity of 15.82% and a net margin of 17.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This is a positive change from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on RLI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Compass Point lowered RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other RLI news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $69.15 per share, with a total value of $207,450.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,807,817.50. The trade was a 3.14% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.