Eventide Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in RLI Corp. $RLI

Key Points

• Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in RLI Corp. by 57.9% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.14% of the company valued at $10.34 million.
• RLI Corp. recently reported earnings of $0.84 EPS for the quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a 20% year-over-year revenue increase to $562.28 million.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share has been declared, representing an annual yield of 0.9%, with the payment scheduled for September 19th.

Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 57.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,776 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 47,199 shares during the quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of RLI worth $10,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of RLI by 100.0% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 19,526 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,569,000 after buying an additional 9,763 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of RLI by 99.6% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 112,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $9,046,000 after buying an additional 56,208 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of RLI by 105.5% in the first quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 253,074 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $20,329,000 after buying an additional 129,901 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of RLI by 100.0% in the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 41,476 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,070,000 after buying an additional 20,738 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of RLI by 255.2% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 11,321 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 8,134 shares during the period. 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 purchased 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $69.15 per share, for a total transaction of $207,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,807,817.50. This represents a 3.14% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RLI traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $66.19. 156,690 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 513,394. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96 and a beta of 0.65. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $65.14 and a 52 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.87.

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

RLI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. RLI's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.34%.

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.