Nuveen Asset Management LLC Sells 4,714 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lowered its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 81,041 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 4,714 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned 0.09% of RLI worth $13,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in RLI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in RLI by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on RLI shares. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Compass Point downgraded shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other RLI news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of RLI stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of RLI stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI stock traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $76.25. The company had a trading volume of 302,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 366,651. The stock has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36 and a beta of 0.72. RLI Corp. has a 1-year low of $68.50 and a 1-year high of $91.15. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $76.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $36.73 million during 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%. RLI's quarterly revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.05%.

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.