Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $20.33 Million Stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in RLI Corp. by 105.5% in the first quarter, now owning 253,074 shares valued at approximately $20.33 million.
• RLI Corp. reported an earnings per share of $0.84, surpassing estimates by 9 cents and showing a revenue increase of 20% year-over-year.
• The company's latest quarterly dividend was raised from $0.15 to $0.16 per share, yielding about 1.0%, with a payout ratio of 18.34%.

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 105.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 253,074 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 129,901 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned approximately 0.28% of RLI worth $20,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in RLI by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 37,926 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,213 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in RLI by 92.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,066 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,911 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in RLI by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,675 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at $3,830,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in RLI by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,904 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In related news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak acquired 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $69.15 per share, with a total value of $207,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,807,817.50. This trade represents a 3.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of RLI opened at $67.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23 and a beta of 0.66. The company's 50-day moving average is $71.40 and its 200-day moving average is $74.19. RLI Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $65.14 and a fifty-two week high of $91.14. 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 (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.55 million. RLI had a net margin of 17.81% and a return on equity of 15.82%. The company's revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. RLI's payout ratio is currently 18.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Compass Point cut shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.60.

RLI 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.

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