Confluence Investment Management LLC Invests $1.12 Million in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 13,946 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,120,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in RLI by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,633 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in RLI by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of RLI by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 2,622 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of RLI by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,265 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,846,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RLI has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Compass Point cut RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other RLI news, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $112,155.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,854 shares in the company, valued at $961,093.58. The trade was a 10.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total value of $214,484.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,745,835.68. This represents a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLI traded up $0.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $76.85. The stock had a trading volume of 336,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 366,482. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $75.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.36. The stock has a market cap of $7.05 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52 and a beta of 0.72. RLI Corp. has a 1-year low of $68.50 and a 1-year high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company had revenue of $36.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $442.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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 will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is a positive change from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. RLI's payout ratio is presently 21.05%.

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.