Man Group plc Sells 3,304 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Man Group plc lessened its holdings in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,449 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 3,304 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned about 0.06% of RLI worth $9,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of RLI by 47.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter valued at about $108,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $120,000. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company's stock.

RLI Trading Up 1.0%

RLI stock traded up $0.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $74.86. The company had a trading volume of 325,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 366,925. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $76.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.66. The firm has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99 and a beta of 0.72. RLI Corp. has a 12-month low of $68.50 and a 12-month high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $36.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $442.20 million. RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 0.85%. RLI's payout ratio is 21.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total transaction of $112,155.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $961,093.58. The trade was a 10.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the business'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 transaction, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on RLI shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point downgraded RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.60.

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.