Gotham Asset Management LLC Purchases 148,955 Shares of RLI Corp. $RLI

Key Points

• Gotham Asset Management LLC significantly increased its holdings in RLI Corp. by 220.5%, acquiring an additional 148,955 shares and bringing its total ownership to 216,519 shares worth approximately $17.4 million.
• Other institutional investors also increased their stakes in RLI, with Vanguard Group Inc. boosting its holding by 95.2%, bringing their total ownership to nearly 9 million shares valued at over $722 million.
• RLI Corp. reported strong quarterly earnings of $0.84 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share, emphasizing its solid financial performance.

Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 220.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 216,519 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 148,955 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned 0.24% of RLI worth $17,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in RLI by 100.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 372 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in RLI by 100.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 396 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in RLI by 100.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in RLI by 88.5% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in RLI by 100.0% during the first quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 480 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak bought 3,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was purchased 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 in the company, valued at $6,807,817.50. This trade represents a 3.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $66.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 100,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 513,083. RLI Corp. has a one year low of $65.14 and a one year high of $91.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's 50-day moving average is $68.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.82.

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, 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%.RLI's revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.