LPL Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC significantly increased its stake in RLI Corp. by 111.7% in the first quarter, owning 80,291 shares worth approximately $6.45 million.
• RLI recently reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, exceeding expectations of $0.75, and its revenue increased by 20% year-over-year to $562.28 million.
• The company's board declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.15 to $0.16 per share, indicating a 1.0% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 18.34%.

LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 111.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,291 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 42,365 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.09% of RLI worth $6,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of RLI. Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of RLI by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 2,394,544 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $192,354,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197,272 shares in the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of RLI by 104.3% during the 1st quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,075,321 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $86,381,000 after acquiring an additional 549,042 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of RLI by 580.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 415,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $68,445,000 after acquiring an additional 354,219 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of RLI by 90.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 650,583 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $52,261,000 after acquiring an additional 308,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palisade Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of RLI by 89.4% during the 1st quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP now owns 574,807 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $46,174,000 after acquiring an additional 271,260 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on RLI shares. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Compass Point cut shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, RLI presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In other RLI news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak acquired 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $69.15 per share, for a total transaction of $207,450.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,807,817.50. The trade was a 3.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RLI traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $66.69. The company had a trading volume of 418,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 814,913. The stock has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 0.66. RLI Corp. has a 1 year low of $65.14 and a 1 year high of $91.14. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $69.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

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

RLI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. RLI's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.