Nomura Holdings Inc. Buys Shares of 5,533 RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,533 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $912,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of RLI by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 471,752 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,759,000 after acquiring an additional 9,131 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $728,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,854,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $840,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter valued at $1,199,000. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company's stock.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of RLI opened at $76.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32 and a beta of 0.72. RLI Corp. has a twelve month low of $68.50 and a twelve month high of $91.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.12 and a 200-day moving average of $78.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.20 million. RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. This is an increase from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on RLI shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point downgraded shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.

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